Maimonides
1138–1204 · Jewish (Córdoba/Egypt) · Medieval Period
Known for: Greatest medieval Jewish thinker—physician, rabbi, philosopher, legal codifier who barely had time to eat
Fled persecution in Spain, settled in Egypt as court physician to Saladin's vizier while leading the Jewish community. His Guide for the Perplexed harmonized Aristotle with Jewish theology; his Mishneh Torah codified all of Jewish law.
He wrote that he barely had time to eat—returning from the palace to find his house full of patients, not sitting down until nightfall.
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