“The Jewish Leonardo? A Sixteenth-Century Jewish Inventor and the Quest for the Secrets of Nature”
Daniel Jütte, Harvard Society of Fellows
Noon, Thursday October 27 – 203 Bethune College
This talk explores the story of Abramo Colorni, a late Renaissance Italian-Jewish inventor, alchemist and “professor of secrets.” Praised in his time as one of the most famous Italians alive, Colorni was admired by both Christian and Jewish contemporaries. The talk will discuss how Colorni gained such fame and why he was coveted by major courts all over Europe. Through the lens of Colorni’s life it is possible to gain a new understanding of the role that Jews played in the early marketplace of secrets and science.
Dr. Daniel Jütte is Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He studied history and musicology and received his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg. His main area of interest is early modern and modern European history. In particular, his work has focused on the history of science, Jewish history, and music history.
