Thank you, Private User! Of course. I have one finding so far. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut's father was Isaac Ibn Shaprut Ben Ezra. Isaac was a very wealthy person. He moved from Jaén to Córdoba at some point. Córdoba was at that time the capital of Muslim Spain (Abdarrahman III). [1]
Isaac built a new synagogue in Jaén before moving to Córdoba and supported Torah learning and Torah scholars and writers. In 910, he had a son named Hasdai, likely in Jaén. Isaac gave Hasdai an excellent education. He learned Arabic, Latin (from Christian clerics), and Romance. He was not a distinguished Torah scholar. Hasdai then studied medicine and became a doctor to the Caliph and later his confidant and minister of foreign relations. [1]
Another interesting fact is that Menahem Ben Saruq, the writer of the Machberet (the first dictionary of biblical vocabulary writing in Hebrew), was the secretary of both Isaac and Hasdai. This says a lot about the power of Isaac to have such a famous secretary. [2]
Finally, according to this source |3], it is Hasdai who appoints Moshe Ben Hanoch, from Babylonia, as Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community of Córdoba. There is an interesting story from the Sefer Ha-Qabbalah (Abraham Ibn Daud) that tells the story of The Four Captives, Moshe Ben Hanoch being one of them. The effect of this is that Hasdai cuts the dependence of responsa from the Sura and Pumbedita academies.
Sources:
[1] Ashtor, Eliyahu: The Jews of Moslem Spain, Volume 1, Jerusalem 1973
[2] Domenech, Jordi: El Legado Sefardí en Jaén: Hasday Ibn Shaprut Un Principe Judio, 2018
[3] Bossong, Georg: Geschichte und Kultur der sephardischen Juden. München 2008
Now, I need to continue going upward to understand Isaac Ibn Shaprut Ibn Ezra's father. Interestingly enough, the Ibn Ezra's surname could have a link to Ezra, who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, so not simply a patronymic. One place for me to look further is to understand about the Yeshiva in Lucena. At last, the Kohanite link would also need to be defined, working on that as well.