No. 4171 · dated by century
Solomon Alashkar
16th centuryTrader and philanthropistAfrica · c. 1550Most named place: Egypt (approximate)
Solomon Alashkar was a trader, philanthropist, and leader of Egyptian Jewry. With his wealth, gained through trade, Alashkar supported scholars and yeshivot in Ereẓ Israel and Egypt. He also helped to subsidize publication of the Shulḥan Arukh (Venice, 1565). At one point his fortune changed and was unable to meet his debts to the governor of Egypt, Hussein Pasha. The governor ordered Alashkar’s execution (1583?) but he was saved because the governor himself was killed and Alashkar later even recovered financially.