Isaac Ben Abraham Judah Akrish

Isaac Ben Abraham Judah Akrish (1489-1578) Talmudic scholar and publisher, born in Salonica. Divided most of his life among Jewish communities in countries around the Eastern Mediterranean. He arrived in Egypt in 1548, having lived in Naples, Italy, and Salonica (now in Greece), where he was employed by David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (Radbaz), a leader of the Jewish community, as a teacher to his grandchildren. In Cairo, Egypt, he amassed an extensive collection of books by purchasing old manuscripts and copying those in Ibn Abi Zimra's library. His love for books stayed with him until the end of his life and wherever he traveled, he spent most of his earnings in purchasing additional books. However, he lost his collections at least twice: the first time in 1554 when following the new Papal edicts against the Talmud the Venetians confiscated his manuscripts while he passed through Candia (now Iraklion, on the Island of Crete). In 1569, a fire in the Jewish quarter of Constantinople destroyed his collection of books again. He spent the later part of his life under the patronage of Esther Kiera, a philanthropist and patron of art and letters, and other influential Jews, like Don Josef Nassi, duke of Naxos. In Constantinople Akrish published a number of important Hebrew literary pieces, some of them contained in Kovetz Vikkuhim - a collection of ten documents featuring the letter of Profiat Duran. This was followed by Maaseh Beth David bi-Ymei Malkhut Paras and Kol Mavasser the last including the alleged correspondence between Hisdai Ibn Shaprut and Josef, the King of the Khazars in addition to stories about the Ten Lost Tribes who live beyond the Sambation river.