Samuel Romanelli (born at Mantua Sept. 19, 1757; died at

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

Oct. 17, 1814) was an Italian-born Jewish ''

maskil The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western E ...

'' and Hebrew poet. A man of great gifts but unsteady in his habits, Romanelli began to travel early in life. He went first to Morocco, where he spent four years. He has described his experiences there in a work which has become very popular (see below). Returning to Europe, he lived successively in Berlin (1791), Vienna (1793), London (1799), and Lille (France), going back to his native country about 1800. The last years of his life were spent in Casale, where he died suddenly of apoplexy. Romanelli supported himself by teaching and by writing Hebrew and Italian poems for weddings, patriotic feasts, and similar occasions; but, being erratic and a scoffer of religion, he made very many enemies, and always lived in great poverty. Besides his Hebrew poems, he wrote translations, especially of the prayer-book, from Hebrew into Italian and from Italian into Hebrew. Notable among his translations from Italian are those of Metastasio's melodrama "Themistocles" and Maffei's tragedy "Merope"; the latter has been edited by Weikert, a Benedictine monk (Rome, 1903, 2d ed. 1904), while the former is still in manuscript. For the names in the original Romanelli gives Hebrew substitutes, as Merab for Merope, Palti for Polifonte, etc. The Hebrew version, while not literally following the original, is not only poetical, but also a faithful rendering.

Literary work

*''"Ha-Ḳolot Yeḥdalun"'' or ''"Mishpaṭ Shalom"'' (Berlin, 1791), a Hebrew melodrama in honor of a wedding *''"Massa' ba-'Arab"'' or ''"Travail in an Arab Land"'' (ib. 1792), a description of his travels in the Barbary States, several times reprinted, and translated into English by Schiller-Szinessy (Cambridge, 1887) *''"Ruaḥ Nakon"'' (Berlin, 1792), a philosophic poem *''"'Alot ha-Minḥah"'' or ''"Ḥeber ha-Me'ushshar"'' (Vienna, 1793), a poem in honor of the wedding of L. Hertz and Charlotte Arnstein, in Italian and Hebrew *''"Grammatica Ragionata Italiana ed Ebraica,"'' Triest, 1799 *An Italian translation of parts of the Sephardic ritual (n.p., 1802) *''"Zimrat 'Ariẓim"'' (Mantua, 1807), hymns in honor of

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 ...

*''"Maḥazeh Shaddai"'' (ib. 1808), Hebrew and Italian poems *A poetical translation of that part of the Yom Kippur service which describes the office of the high priest on the Day of Atonement (Alessandria, 1808) *''"Tappuaḥ Zahab"'' (Vienna, c. 1810), an epos from Greek mythology *A Hebrew hymn on Emperor Francis of Austria and his brother Archduke Carl (n.d., n.p.)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanelli, Samuel 1757 births 1814 deaths 18th-century Italian Jews Italian poets Hebrew-language poets Writers from Mantua Jewish poets Translators from Hebrew Translators to Hebrew Translators from Italian Translators to Italian Jewish translators Jewish Italian writers 18th-century Italian translators 19th-century Italian Jews People of the Haskalah