Paula Dei Mansi (died after 1288) was a Jewish

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

and

Torah scholar ''Talmid Chakham'' is an honorific title which is given to a man who is well versed in Jewish law, i. e., a Torah scholar. Originally he, תלמיד חכמים ''Talmid Chakhamim'', lit., "student of sages", pl. תלמידי חכמים ''talmid ...

. She is thought to be the earliest known female scribe. Dei Mansi was the daughter of Abraham Anau of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

and belonged to a family of scribes that their roots to Rabbi

Nathan ben Jehiel Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; ''Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi'' according to Sephardic pronunciation) ( 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmud ...

of Rome (1035-1110), author of a noted Jewish legal work. Evidence of Dei Mansi’s skill extends beyond that of scribe to that of a

. Dei Mansi contributed to her father's

biblical commentary Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...

, adding her own explanations in the commentary, in addition to translating the work from Hebrew into Italian. Dei Mansi also transcribed a Hebrew prayer book and added her own explanations as commentary to the prayers. A third work, a collection of laws, is known to have been transcribed by Dei Mansi who wrote the work at the request of a relative.

References

13th-century Italian Jews 13th-century Italian women 13th-century Italian writers Medieval European scribes Jewish scribes (soferim) Medieval Jewish scholars Medieval Jewish women Writers from Verona Translators from Hebrew Translators to Italian {{DEFAULTSORT:Dei Mansi, Paula Italian scribes