CASTRO, ABRAHAM DE

(fl. 16th cent.)

   Egyptian financial administrator. He was director of the mint in Cairo and supervisor of economic affairs in Egypt. When the Egyptian pasha (in revolt against Sultan Suleiman I) ordered Castro to issue a new coinage bearing his name, Castro refused. He escaped to Constantinople and informed the sultan of the pasha's rebellion; as a result the pasha was put to death. Egyptian Jews commemorate the date of the pasha's execution (28 Adar) as a feast day (Purim of Egypt).