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Menasseh Ben Israel
Manoel Dias Soeiro (1604 – 20 November 1657), better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh ben Israel (), also known as Menasheh ben Yossef ben Yisrael, also known with the Hebrew acronym, MB"Y or MBI, was a Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer, publisher, and founder of the first Hebrew printing press (named ''Emeth Meerets Titsma`h'') in Amsterdam in 1626. Life Menasseh was born on Madeira Island in 1604, with the name Manoel Dias Soeiro, a year after his parents had left mainland Portugal because of the Inquisition. The family moved to the Netherlands in 1610. The Netherlands was in the middle of a process of religious revolt against Catholic Spanish rule throughout the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). Amsterdam was an important center of Jewish life in Europe at this time. The family's arrival in 1610 was during the Twelve Years' Truce mediated by France and England at The Hague. In Amsterdam he studied under Moses Raphael de Aguilar. Menasseh rose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salom Italia
Salom Italia (also Salomo d'Italia) (ca. 1619, possibly Mantua - ca. 1655, possibly Amsterdam) was an Italian copper engraver who worked in Amsterdam. He became known particularly for his illustrations for the Book of Esther, which merged ideas about the Jewish diaspora with those of Dutch liberation after the Eighty Years' War. Biography Salom Italia was likely born ca. 1619 in Mantua, Lombardy, where his father Mordechai operated a printing house. Earlier suggestions, that he had been born in Castel Branco, were denied by Narkiss in 1957. Narkiss argues that he left Mantua after the Austrians invaded, and left for the Republic of Venice, and settled in Amsterdam at the latest in 1641, where he began work as an artist and where he likely worked until he died. He was one of only a few Jewish artists working in Amsterdam. Of the ten known works he signed, two are dated. Most of his copper engravings pertain to the Book of Esther. He is known also for his portraits of the rabbis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
