https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
On 27 July 1656, the Talmud Torah congregation of Amsterdam issued a writ of cherem (Hebrew: חרם, a kind of ban, shunning, ostracism, expulsion, or excommunication) against the 23-year-old Spinoza.
Spinoza spent his remaining 21 years writing and studying as a private scholar.[12]
Spinoza earned a modest living from lens-grinding and instrument making. … During his time as a lens and instrument maker, he was also supported by small but regular donations from close friends.[12]
Spinoza was offered the chair of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg in 1670, but he refused it, perhaps because of the possibility that it might in some way curb his freedom of thought.[98]
Textbooks and encyclopaedias often depict Spinoza as a solitary soul who eked out a living as a lens grinder; in reality, he had many friends but kept his needs to a minimum.[12] He preached a philosophy of tolerance and benevolence. Anthony Gottlieb described him as living "a saintly life".[12] Reviewer M. Stuart Phelps noted, "No one has ever come nearer to the ideal life of the philosopher than Spinoza."[99] Harold Bloomwrote, "As a teacher of reality, he practised his own wisdom, and was surely one of the most exemplary human beings ever to have lived."[100]According to The New York Times: "In outward appearance he was unpretending, but not careless. His way of living was exceedingly modest and retired; often he did not leave his room for many days together. He was likewise almost incredibly frugal; his expenses sometimes amounted only to a few pence a day."[101] Bloom writes of Spinoza, "He appears to have had no sexual life."[100]
“How Spinoza lived". The New York Times. 17 March 1878.
