Background
Hasdai was born about 915 in Jaén, Spain. His father, Isaac ben Ezra, was a wealthy and learned Jew of Jaén.
Diplomat physician patron scholars
Hasdai was born about 915 in Jaén, Spain. His father, Isaac ben Ezra, was a wealthy and learned Jew of Jaén.
Hasdai acquired in his youth a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin, the last-named language being at that time known only to the higher clergy of Spain. He also studied medicine, and is said to have discovered a panacea, called Al-Faruk.
Hasdai was the founder of the new culture of the Jews in Moorish Spain in the 10th century. He was both physician and minister to Caliph Abd ar-Rahman III in Cordova. A man of wide learning and culture, he encouraged the settlement of Jewish scholars in Andalusia, and his patronage of literature, science and art promoted the Jewish renaissance in Europe. Poetry, philology, philosophy all flourished under his encouragement, and his name was handed down to posterity as the first of the many Spanish Jews who combined diplomatic skill with artistic culture. This type was the creation of the Moors in Andalusia, and the Jews ably seconded the Mahommedans in the effort to make life at once broad and deep.
There is no record of Hasdai having a wife.