Levi ben Abraham ben Hayyim

Levi ben Abraham was a Provençal Jewish philosopher, encyclopedist and champion of the study of the secular sciences, whose Hebrew encyclopedia 'Livyat Hen' (1295) surveyed astronomy, mathematics and natural science within a rationalist philosophical framework, alongside his didactic poem 'Battei ha-Nefesh veha-Lehashim'. A leading Jewish scholar, his allegorical readings of Scripture placed him at the center of the Maimonidean controversy of 1303–1305 and led to his excommunication and years of wandering poverty. He is remembered as a key transmitter of philosophy and science within medieval Jewish culture.