Coèn, Graziadio Vita Anania

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COÈN, GRAZIADIO VITA ANANIA

COÈN, GRAZIADIO VITA ANANIA (1751–1834), Italian rabbi, scholar, and author. Born in Reggio Emilia, he studied under the greatest Italian rabbis of his day. Coèn taught and served as rabbi in several communities until 1825 when he became rabbi of Florence, a post he held until his death. He wrote extensively, and his work included poetry, linguistic and biblical studies, and textbooks. His two books on the Hebrew poetry of his time, Zemirot Yisrael ("Songs of Israel," Leghorn, 1793) and Ru'aḥ Ḥadashah ("A New Spirit," Reggio, 1822) were among the first works written on this subject. His other books include Bamot Ba'al ("Highplaces [altars] of Ba'al," Reggio, 1809) on idolatry in the Bible, and Safah Aḥat ("One Language," Reggio, 1822), a study of the biblical sources of mishnaic Hebrew.

[Getzel Kressel]

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