Judah Loew of Prague (Maharal)

Judah Loew ben Betzalel, better known as Maharal of Prague, was a Bohemian rabbi, talmudist, mystically inclined philosopher, and community leader, whose writings left an indelible impression on both his own generation and subsequent generations of Ashkenazic Jewry. His numerous philosophical works became cornerstones of Jewish thought and had a profound influence on Chasidic teaching and some of the most prominent thinkers of modern Orthodoxy, including Rav Kook. He also wrote halakhic works, including a commentary on the Arba'ah Turim. He had a close relationship with the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. Among his students were Rabbi Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (known as, the Tosefot Yom Tov) and the historian Rabbi David Ganz (Tzemach David). In popular literature or later centuries, he is famously credited having created a golem.