Maimonides

Maria Angeles Gallego
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Moses ben Maimon (born Cordova 1135 or 1138 CE; died Fustat (Cairo) 1204 CE) is known as RaMBaM (acronym of Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon) in Rabbinic literature, Abu Imran Musa ibn Abd Allah al-Kurtubi in the Arabic tradition, and as Maimonides in Western literature. He was one of the most prominent Jewish legal theorists and philosophers of all times. An old Jewish saying has it that “From Moses [the prophet] to Moses [ben Maimon], there was none like Moses”.

Maimonides was born in Muslim Spain (al-Andalus), in the city of Cordova, into a distinguished Jewish family, his father being a prestigious dayyan (rabbinic judge). He received his first education in his native town, from both Jewish rabbinic authorities and Muslim teachers, the former being responsible for his learning of Jewish

2200 words

Citation: Gallego, Maria Angeles. "Maimonides". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2883, accessed 29 March 2024.]

2883 Maimonides 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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