Years: c. 1513–1578
Primary city: Mantua
Rabbi Azariah ben Moshe dei Rossi was a physician, rabbi, and scholar in Renaissance Italy. His major work, Me'or Einayim, applied philological and historical methods to Jewish texts, critically examining Aggadah and traditional chronologies. By integrating classical and contemporary scholarship into his studies of Jewish history and literature, he became a reference point in later discussions regarding historical criticism within rabbinic culture.