Abramo Colorni

Abramo Colorni
Born1544
Mantua
Died1599 (aged 54–55)
Mantua
OccupationEngineer, architect, inventor
[edit on Wikidata]

1593, Scotographia, published in Prague, collection of Biblioteca Teresiana[1]

Abramo Colorni (Abram or Abraham, Colorno or Calorno, sometimes Colorini, 1544–1599) was an Italian-Jewish polymath and Renaissance man. An engineer, architect, mathematician, chiromancer, cryptographer, alchemist, inventor, magus (magician) and merchant, Colorni spent nine years as a Court Jew for Rudolf II.[2][3][4] He is the author of the 1593 treatise on cryptography, Scotographia.[5] As court alchemist, he was a major player in cultural transfer from Italy to Baden-Wurttemberg and Prague.[6]

Sometimes thought of as a charlatan, a genius "Jewish Leonardo" or "Jewish Baron von Munchhausen", or a professore de’ secreti, "professor of secrets", he was also known as a clockmaker, for his magic tricks and escapology, and invented a new kind of revolver.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Approfondimenti Biblioteca Israelitica". Biblioteca Teresiana. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  2. ^ Walker, Katherine (2017). "Review of The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, 1400–1800, Daniel Jütte". The Sixteenth Century Journal. 48 (1): 294–296. doi:10.1086/SCJ4801179. ISSN 0361-0160. JSTOR 44816044.
  3. ^ Roth, Cecil (1953). Personalities and Events in Jewish History. Jewish Publication Society of America.
  4. ^ Pesaro, Abramo (1878). Memorie storiche sulla comunità israelitica ferrarese (in Italian). Premiata Tipografia Sociale.
  5. ^ Berns, Andrew (2016). "Review of The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets, Daniel Jütte". AJS Review. 40 (1): 178–180. doi:10.1017/S0364009416000222. ISSN 0364-0094. JSTOR 26375053.
  6. ^ Veltri, Giuseppe; Miletto, Gianfranco, eds. (2 March 2012). Rabbi Judah Moscato and the Jewish Intellectual World of Mantua in the 16th–17th Centuries. Studies in Jewish history and culture. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-22225-0.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bregoli-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Karp, Jonathan; Trivellato, Francesca, eds. (2023). Classic essays on Jews in early modern Europe. Classic essays in Jewish history. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-4094-3155-8.
  9. ^ Zanetti, Cristiano (12 January 2023), "6 The Diverse Agencies of Renaissance Engineers in the Shadow of War", Shadow Agents of Renaissance War, Amsterdam University Press, pp. 173–200, doi:10.1515/9789048553327-009, hdl:10278/5018841, ISBN 978-90-485-5332-7, retrieved 6 September 2024