Sforno

Rabbi Ovadiah ben Yaakov Sforno was born in Italy about1475. He was a rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher and physician. After studying Hebrew, rabbinic literature, mathematics and philosophy in his home town of Cesena, he moved to Rome to study medicine. He was greatly respected amongst Jews and the non-Jewish aristocracy alike. 

Sforno moved to Bolgna where he open and ran a Yeshiva till his death in 1550. Sforno relied on the Peshat, simple meaning of the text, in his commentaries, and wrote a large array of works. These included works on religious philosophy and he personally translated his philosophical work, Or Ammim, for King Henry the 2nd of France.