Joseph Solomon Delmedigo
Joseph Solomon Delmedigo ( born June 16, 1591 in Candia, † October 16, 1655 in Prague, also: Josef Schelomo ha Rofe, Acronym Yashar ) was a Jewish doctor, rabbi, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer.
Life
Delmedigo was born 1591 in Candia on Crete, the son of Rabbi Eljiah Delmedigo. The Delmedigo family was a family of scholars Ashkenazi, who had emigrated from Germany to Crete. According to the family tradition Delmedigo underwent a thorough Jewish education in Crete and a classic in Italy. He studied at the University of Padua astronomy and mathematics among others, Galileo. He had the same contact with the Venetian Rabbi Leone da Modena, who had obviously heavily influenced him. In 1613 he completed his studies in Padua and returned to Crete. He practiced as a physician and began the collection for his encyclopedic work Ya'ar ha - Lebanon. After a short time ( 1616) he left his newly married wife first and Crete forever.
His wanderings led him initially to Cairo, where he focused on mathematics and dealt with Karaite ideas. From Cairo he moved to Constantinople Opel. Again, he came along with Karaite exponent and learned some advocate of Kabbalah know. He moved on to Poland - Lithuania in Vilnius and was for some time physician to the Prince Christoph Radziwill. After five years of residence in Poland - Lithuania Delmedigo moved on to Western Europe.
About Hamburg and happiness he reached the city in 1628 Amsterdam, where in Menasseh ben Israel in 1629 his first book Sefer Elim was printed, which also had influence on the young Spinoza. In Amsterdam, he worked as a preacher and teacher in the municipality Beth Israel. In 1630, he moved to Frankfurt, then the largest Jewish community in Germany. It should be his longest and most peaceful stay since his departure from Crete. He was appointed to the city's official doctor of the Jewish community and held this position until his departure in 1645 to Prague. Little is known about the last ten years of his life. Joseph Solomon Delmedigo died in the fall of 1655 and was buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Works (selection)
- Ya'ar Levanon (The Forest of Lebanon), unfinished.
- Sefer Elim, Amsterdam 1629th
- Sefer Ma'ayan gannim, Amsterdam 1629 (Odessa, 1864 ).
- Sefer Ta'alumot Hokhmah, Basel- Hanau 1629-1631.