 Born of Jewish parents at Safed in Galilee, on 28 October 1588; died at Rome, 26 May 1668.As a Jewish rabbi he undertook an extensive journey through Europe, and it was during his stay in Poland that he was converted to Catholicism.After his conversion he was sent by the King of Poland on a mission to Constantinople, where he was arrested as a spy, and narrowly escaped with his life though the intervention of the ambassador of Venice.