Yashar of Candia
1591 CE–1655 CE · Acharonim · Crete (Candia)
R. Joseph Solomon Delmedigo — Yashar of Candia (1591-1655) — was the most polymathic Jewish scientist-philosopher of the early 17th century. Born in Candia (Crete), he studied medicine at Padua (1606-1613) under Galileo — whom he cites approvingly in his cosmological writings — and then served as community physician across Cairo, Constantinople, Vilna (as physician to the magnate Radziwill), Hamburg, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Prague, and finally Prague where he died.
His Sefer Elim (Amsterdam 1629) is a 700-page collection of scientific essays in Hebrew, covering astronomy, mathematics, physics, music theory, and medicine — the first major Hebrew engagement with the new Galilean science. His Matzref la-Chochmah is a sympathetic-critical exposition of Kabbalah.
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Crete (Candia)קריטיAegean island — Venetian then Ottoman
What they did here
Born in Candia (Crete), then under Venetian rule. Grandson of R. Eliyahu Delmedigo. Began early studies on Crete.
About Crete (Candia)
Crete (then called Candia under Venetian rule, 1204-1669) was home to a sophisticated Sephardic-Romaniote-Italian community; produced Eliyahu Capsali (1483-1555) and R. Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (Yashar of Candia, 1591-1655).
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Yashar of Candia’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Yashar of Candia’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Jewish world
- R. Aaron Berechiah of Modena· 1549 CE–1639 CE
- R. Hayyim Shabbetai· 1556 CE–1647 CE
- R. Yom Tov Tzahalon· 1559 CE–1638 CE
- Yoel ben Shmuel Sirkes· 1561 CE–1640 CE
- Isaiah Horowitz (Shlah HaKadosh)· 1565 CE–1630 CE
- R. Yosef di Trani· 1568 CE–1639 CE
- Abraham Azulai· 1570 CE–1643 CE
- R. Yehudah Aryeh of Modena (Leon de Modena)· 1571 CE–1648 CE
- Rabbi Yosef Escapa· 1572 CE–1662 CE
- Yom Tov Lipmann Heller· 1578 CE–1654 CE
- Rabbi Yehoshua of Krakow· 1578 CE–1648 CE
- Nathan Nota Spira· 1585 CE–1633 CE
- David HaLevi Segal (Taz)· 1586 CE–1667 CE
- Asenath Barzani· 1590 CE–1670 CE
- Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel· 1595 CE–1663 CE
- Rabbi Yonah Teomim-Frankel· 1595 CE–1669 CE
- Moses Rivkes· 1595 CE–1671 CE
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Krochmal· 1600 CE–1661 CE
- R. Chaim Benveniste· 1603 CE–1673 CE
- Rabbi Moshe Lima· 1605 CE–1658 CE
- Rabbi Meir Schiff· 1608 CE–1644 CE
- Rabbi Ephraim HaKohen· 1616 CE–1678 CE
- Shabbatai HaKohen (Shach)· 1621 CE–1662 CE
- Shabbetai Tzvi (the false messiah)· 1626 CE–1676 CE
Scientists
Luminaries & Explorers world
Christian world
Islamic world
Hindu world
Buddhist world
Rulers world
- Njinga Mbande· 1583 CE–1663 CE
- Massasoit (Ousamequin)· 1581 CE–1661 CE
- Michael I· 1596 CE–1645 CE
- Murad IV· 1612 CE–1640 CE
- Tokugawa Iemitsu· 1604 CE–1651 CE
- Chongzhen Emperor· 1611 CE–1644 CE
- Shah Jahan· 1592 CE–1666 CE
- Mustafa I· 1591 CE–1639 CE
- Ibrahim· 1615 CE–1648 CE
- Gustavus Adolphus· 1594 CE–1632 CE
- Osman II· 1604 CE–1622 CE
- Shah Abbas I the Great· 1571 CE–1629 CE
- Jahangir· 1569 CE–1627 CE
- Shunzhi Emperor· 1638 CE–1661 CE
Works
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