Élie Halévy (Ḥalfan/Chalfan), or Élie Halfon-Halévy ( Fürth 1760 – Paris 5 November 1826), was a French-Jewish author who composed his works, most notably his poetry, in Hebrew. He is the father of

Fromental Fromental (; oc, Fromentau) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. Geography The river Semme flows through the commune's northern part and forms part of its northern and western bor ...

and

Léon Halévy Léon Halévy (4 January 1802 – 2 September 1883) was a French civil servant, historian, and dramatist. Early life Born to a Jewish family in Paris, Léon was the son of the writer and chazzan Élie Halévy and the younger brother of the ...

Life and work

Born at Fürth (in present-day Bavaria), at an early age Halévy went to Paris, where he became cantor and secretary to the Jewish Consistoire of Paris. His knowledge of the Talmud and his poetical talent earned him the esteem of many French scholars, particularly the well-known Orientalist Sylvestre de Sacy. His first poem was "Ha-Shalom", a hymn composed on the occasion of the treaty of Amiens; it was sung in the synagogue of Paris, in both Hebrew and French, on the 17th Brumaire (8 November) 1801. The poem was praised in Latin verses by Protestant pastor Marron. In 1808 Halévy composed a prayer to be recited on the anniversary of the battle of Wagram; in 1817, with the help of some of his co-religionists, he founded the French weekly ''L'Israélite Français'', which, however, expired within two years. To this periodical he contributed a remarkable dialogue entitled " Socrate et Spinosa" (ii.73). His ''Limmude Dat u-Musar'' ( Metz, 1820) is a text-book of religious instruction compiled from the Bible, with notes, a French translation, and the decisions of the Sanhedrin instituted by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Halévy left two unpublished works, a Hebrew-French dictionary and an essay on Æsop's fables. He attributes the fables to Solomon (comp. I Kings v. 12-13 . V. iv.32-33, and thinks the name "

Æsop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

" to be a form of " Asaph".

Bibliography

* , By Isidore Singer,

M. Seligsohn Max Seligsohn (April 13, 1865 – April 11, 1923 Manhattan) was an American Orientalist, born in Imperial Russia. Having received his rabbinical training at Slutsk, government ('' guberniya'') of Minsk, he went in 1888 to New York City, where he s ...

** '' Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums'' 1839, Beiblatt No. 1; **

, in ''Univ. Isr.'' xviii. 274-276; ** Heinrich Grätz, ''Gesch.'' 2d ed., xi. 217-218; ** William Zeitlin, ''Bibl. Post-Mendels.'' pp. 133–134

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halevy, Elie 1760 births 1826 deaths People from Fürth 19th-century French writers French religious writers Hebrew-language poets Jewish poets Hazzans 18th-century German Jews German emigrants to France French male poets 19th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers