Simon Blumenfeldt (; 1760 or 1770 – 1826), also known as Simon Sofer (), was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Hebrew calligrapher and writer. He possessed the gift of writing in characters so small that they could be read only by the aid of a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

. The

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

was thus written by him nine times on a piece of paper the size of a square inch. He could write readable letters and words even on the very edge of ordinary

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

paper. He was also a skilful draftsman, and he used to embellish his excellent pencil sketches with all kind of verses and sentences. He traveled extensively through Europe, and received rewards from many sovereigns. Blumenfeldt presented numerous script portraits to Emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

, and a

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

, of the size of a finger, to

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

. He left in manuscript ''Diaries of Travel''; ''Pene Shim'on'', a commentary on the Bible, published by his son Moses in his work, ''Magid Mesharim'' (Hanover, 1851); and ''Tenaim u-Ketubah le-Shev'uot ve-Purim'', a humoristic poem.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumenfeldt, Simon 1770 births 1826 deaths 18th-century calligraphers 19th-century calligraphers Artists from the Russian Empire Jewish Russian artists Jewish writers from the Russian Empire People from Courland Governorate People from Jelgava Russian calligraphers