July 12 1884 – 19 Tammuz 5644
Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani was born in Tuscany to descendants of conversos. In 1906, Modigliani traveled to Paris to study art, where he confronted a wave of anti-Semitism connected with the retrial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Modigliani reacted by signing some of his sketches “Modigliani – Jew.” A starving artist, he saw the beginnings of success just as his health gave way. Since his death in 1920, Modigliani has been recognized among the greatest modern painters, and his work sells for millions of dollars.