January 5 1549 – 6 Shevat 5309
Renaissance Hebrew grammarian and poet Elia Levita Ashkenazi died. Also known as Elia the Bachelor (Ha-bahur), Levita moved to Venice after his native Neustadt (near Nuremberg) expelled its Jews. Noted for teaching Hebraist Christians, including Cardinal Giles of Viterbo, this lexicographer and grammarian also authored the Bovo-bukh, a chivalric romance in Yiddish. In Venice he worked as a proofreader in Daniel Bomberg’s Hebrew printing house. Former British prime minister David Cameron is one of Levita’s descendants.