Moses de León

Moses de León (c. 1240 – 1305), known in Hebrew as Moshe ben Shem-Tov (משה בן שם-טוב די-ליאון‎), was a Spanish rabbi and Kabbalist who first publicized the Zohar.

Modern scholars believe the Zohar is his own work, despite his claim to have copied it out of an ancient manuscript by Shimon ben Yochai.

His other works include Sefer ha-Rimon, written in Hebrew, and hundreds of pseudepigraphic responsa, commentaries, and Kabbalistic tracts which he falsely attributed to earlier authorities.

[2] He might have been born in Guadalajara and his surname, then, comes from his father, Shem-Tov de León.

Moses de León died at Arévalo in 1305 while returning to his home.

Title page of first edition of the Zohar, Mantua, 1558. Library of Congress .