Abarbanel.

Abarbanel. ABRABANEL, or ABRAVANEL, ISAAC BEN JEHUDAH, a Jewish writer, was born at Lisbon in 1437. He was employed in affairs of state by Alfonso V. of Portugal; under his successor, John II., he was suspected of treason, and obliged to flee, his property being confiscated (1483). For a time he served King Ferdinand of Aragon, but he shared in the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492), and died at Venice in 1508. His works comprise critical and doctrinal commentaries on the Bible, with important philosophical treatises, one of them a commentary on the Moreh of Maimonides (q.v.). He is a conspicuous representative of the eighth period of Hebrew literature: see JEWS (p. 332). His eldest son, Juda Leon (Leo Hebræus), was a doctor and philosopher, author of Dialoghi di Amore (1535), which was translated into many languages; and was an intimate and esteemed friend of Pico Mirandola (q.v.) and other famous Renaissance scholars. See the monograph by Zimmel, Leo Hebræus, ein Jüdischer Philosoph der Renaissance (1886). Isaac's second son, Joseph, practised medicine in Venice and Ferrara; and the third son, Sammel (1473-1550), was finance-minister to the Spanish viceroy of Naples.