Rabbi Avraham Zacuto came from a family that had been exiled from France and moved to Castile. He learned both Torah and science in Salamanca, his home town, and became a teacher of astronomy. He was close to the local bishop, to whom his influential astronomical work “Hahibur Hagadol” was dedicated.
In 1492, Zacuto, along with all the Jews of Spain, were forced to leave the country. Zacuto, his teacher Rabbi Yitzchak Abuhav (author of Menorat Hamaor), and his family moved to Portugal. In Portugal, Zacuto was appointed as royal astronomer by King John II. After John’s death, his grandson, Manuel I also respected Zacuto. However, in 1496, Manuel expelled or forcibly converted all the Jews in Portugal. Zacuto fled to Tunisia, where he wrote his history of the Jewish people, Sefer Yuhasin. After this, information about Zacuto becomes scarce, but it seemed that he ended his days in Jerusalem in 1515 (though he may have died in Syria in 1520).
The crater Zagut on the moon is named for Avraham Zacuto.
