ACOSTA, URIEL (d. 1647), Jewish author, was born at Oporto near the end of the 16th century. Educated in the Roman Catholic faith, he was received into the synagogue at Amsterdam and exchanged his baptismal name of Gabriel for Uriel. His way ward disposition, however, found no satisfaction in Judaism. He was twice excommunicated, and twice readmitted to the syna gogue. In his autobiography, Exemplar humanae vitae, printed in 1687 and again in 1847, Acosta declared his hostility both to Christianity and Judaism, but spoke most bitterly of Judaism. He committed suicide in 1647. The story of Acosta's life provided K. F. Gutzkow with the material of the tragedy of Uriel Acosta