Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676) was an Ottoman Jewish rabbi and mystic, born in Smyrna in present-day Turkey, who became the central figure of the largest messianic movement in Jewish history when he proclaimed himself the Jewish Messiah in 1665. His claim, promoted energetically by his self-appointed prophet Nathan of Gaza, spread rapidly across Jewish communities throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, provoking widespread excitement and upheaval. In 1666 he was arrested by Ottoman authorities and, given the choice between execution and conversion, converted to Islam, an act that shattered the movement for most of his followers even as a smaller group continued to venerate him in secret for generations afterward.
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