Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmudic and Midrashic words, and consequently he himself is often referred to as "the Arukh".

Alexander Kohut was a rabbi and orientalist. He belonged to a family of rabbis, the most noted among them being Rabbi Israel Palota, his great-grandfather, Rabbi Amram, and Rabbi Chayyim Kitssee, rabbi in Erza, who was his great-granduncle. The last-named was the author of several rabbinic works.