Abramo Colorni

1593, Scotographia, published in Prague, collection of Biblioteca Teresiana 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. He is the author of the 1593 treatise on cryptography, Scotographia. As court alchemist, he was a major player in cultural transfer from Italy to Baden-Wurttemberg and Prague. He was born in, and died in, Mantua, Italy.

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.

Biography

Colorni attended the University of Ferrara where he studied under Antonio Maria Parolini, and was proficient in Latin. Known as a remarkable fencer, he was fascinated with weapons, and was hired in 1572 to design arms for the noble Italian Gonzaga family, rulers of his hometown Mantua, and in 1579 by the Este court in Ferrara. Contemporary Christians considered Colorni's education "well-rounded" and he likely had Christian as well as Jewish teachers. From the 1570s during the time that Colorni was at the ducal court, Jews were banned in most of Italy, and Ferrara was the only Christian city to allow "the apostasy of baptized persons," allowing a population of about 2,000 Jews or almost 10% of the city population.

Colorni married his first wife Violante, the daughter of Yechiel Nissim da Pisa, a highly respected moneylender and scholar, in 1577, and had two children: a son Simone, who continued his father's work, and daughter Colomba, who married a moneylender named Gabriele Fattorino, who died young, and had four children. He also sourced jewelry for Rudolf, and constructed a sundial and a box of "magic mirrors". Alfonso died in 1597 leading to the breakup of the Este Territory.

Colorni died of a fever in Mantua in 1599, though Jütte considers the possibility he may have been poisoned as an open question. His son Simone took up several aspects of his father's work. Scans: Latin small, Latin large, Italian small, Italian large.

Manuscript works Apparently translation of the Hebrew Sefer Mafteah Shelomoh (Book of the Key of Solomon) at the request of the Duke of Mantua. Manuscript versions of this work exist in Latin, French, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, and Spanish.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography Rossi, Dizionario, p. 93; Tiraboschi, Storia Letteraria. vii. iii. 1319; Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. iv. 769, 976; Ravenna, in Vessillo Israelitico, 1892. pp. 38–41; Mortara, Indice, p. 14; Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 2298; idem, in Monatsschrift, 1899, p. 185 et seq.; idem, Hebräische Uebers. p. 938;

Giuseppe Jarè, (pdf) Jarè, (pdf)