Mardochée Venture (; – 12 March 1789) was a French

Judaic scholar Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and translator. He served as secretary and Hebrew interpreter at the Library of King Louis XVI (now the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

). In collaboration with Isaïe Vidal (1713–1771), Venture composed the ''Seder ha-Kontres'' (Avignon, 1765), a collection of liturgical chants for the use of the Jews of the county of

Venaissin The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France. The entire region was an enclave ...

. This compilation includes a ''

piyyut A ''piyyut'' or ''piyut'' (plural piyyutim or piyutim, he, פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט ; from Greek ποιητής ''poiētḗs'' "poet") is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, ch ...

'' composed by Venture, partly in Hebrew and partly in

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

, which was translated into French by Ernest Sabatier in his ''Chansons hébraïco-provençales des juifs comtadins'' (Nîmes, 1874) and by

Pedro II of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...

, in his ''Poésies hébraïco-provençales du rituel israélite comtadin'' (Avignon, 1891). Venture's translations of prayer books were republished through the 19th century.

Publications

* * With Isaïe Vidal. * * * * * * * * * * * * (2d ed., Paris, 1845).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venture, Mardochée 1789 deaths 18th-century French poets 18th-century French rabbis French Hebraists French librarians French male poets Clergy from Avignon Hebrew-language poets Writers from Avignon People from Nice Provençal Jews Translators from Hebrew Translators to French Year of birth uncertain