Born on 15th July 1840 in Tarnow, Arnold Chaim de Porada Rapaport, son of Dawid and Karolina, née Herz, was a councilor of the city of Krakow (1872-1881), member of the National Parliament (1876-1907) and the Council of State (1879-1907), president of the Society for the Care of Neglected Jewish Boys in Krakow, founder of a craft school for the Jewish youth in Krakow, chairman of the Aid Committee for the Poor Jewish Population in Galicia. Founding member of the Polish Gymnastic Society “Sokół” in Krakow. Lawyer, industrialist, financier and philanthropist.A graduate of St. Anna’s gymnasium in Krakow (1858) and the Faculty of Law at the Jagiellonian University (1862). He defended his doctorate thesis in 1863. From 1870, he worked as a lawyer in Krakow and Vienna. Member of the…

Today we remember Eliezer Askenazy, son of Eliasz, a dotor and rabbi of Krakow between 1584-1585.Most likely born in Venice (although according to other sources he was born somewhere in the Ottoman Empire), he studied in Thessaloniki, at the Yeshiva of rabbi J. Taiłacak. At the age of 26, he became a rabbi in Cairo. During this period, several people asked his opinion, including rabbi J. Karo of Safed (Cfatu), who was developing his codes of Talmudic law, rabbi Moses Alshich, the famous commentator, rabbi M. Isserles (ReMU) from Krakow and S. Luria (Maharshal) from Lublin. After 22 years, in circumstances which remain unknown ,he left Cairo, while in 1561, took the position of rabbi in Famagusta, Cyprus. Over there, he was visited by Eliahu of Pesaro, the traveller, who…

Born in Nowy Sącz on 31st May 1897, Zofia Ameisenowa, daughter of Maurycy and Jadwiga, née Jachet, was a professor of History of Art at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and a custodian of the Jagiellonian Library. In 1915, she began studying at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University  where she studied History of Art and Archaeology. After graduation, she started working at the Jagiellonian Library, dealing with graphic collections and the problems of Jewish iconography of the Old Testament. At that time, she was already one of the leading researchers of the history of the Middle Ages. After the war broke out, she left for Lviv, followed by Łuck and Kosow where she ended up in the ghetto. Together with her husband, she managed to escape to…