Profiat Duran

Who was Profiat Duran?

Profiat Duran, full Hebrew name Isaac ben Moses ha-Levi; was a physician, philosopher, grammarian, and controversialist in the 14th century. He was later sometimes referred to by the sobriquet Efodi through association with his two grammars entitled "Ephod." In official records he also appears under his converso Christian name Honoratus de Bonafe.

It is not known whether he was born at Perpignan, where he lived for some years, or in another Catalonian town. In his youth he attended a Talmudic school in Germany for a short time, but instead of confining his studies to the Talmud, he took up philosophy and other sciences also, in spite of the interdiction of his teachers. Duran became a tutor in the Crescas family, and during the bloody riots of 1391 was forcibly baptized, becoming a Converso.