Years: 1475–1550
Primary city: Cesena
Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno was a dayan and Rosh Yeshiva in Bologna. Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen of Padua recognized him as a premier authority in psak halacha. He authored a commentary on the Torah and the Five Megillot, which frequently integrated his medical expertise to provide a rationalist perspective on the physical phenomena described in the text.