Morpurgo, Rachel (1790–1871)

Jewish poet . Born Rachel Luzzatto in Trieste in 1790; died in 1871; educated privately; married Jacob Morpurgo, around 1819; children: four.

Rachel Morpurgo was born in 1790 into a wealthy, prominent Jewish family in Trieste. Although it was then a part of Austria, Trieste had its cultural and linguistic roots in Italy, and its small Jewish community enjoyed a relative freedom not permitted in more anti-Semitic European cities. Morpurgo grew up in a family renowned for their scholars, including the famous philosopher and cabbalist Haim Moses Luzzatto and writer-scholar Samuel David Luzzatto. She carried on her family's scholarly tradition through close studies of the Torah and the Talmud, in addition to other medieval rabbinic texts, under the tutelage of her uncles Hezekiah and David. In addition to her familiarity with Hebrew and Aramaic, she studied Italian literature and mathematics, and was reportedly able to read the Talmud at age 14.

At 18, Morpurgo began her lifelong occupation with poetry, which she wrote in Hebrew. Her poems, which expressed the sorrows of the people of Israel, her hopes for the redemption of the Jews, and faith that Zion would be rebuilt, won the admiration of other contemporary Jewish scholars. She often signed her work using the three initials from Rachel Morpurgo Hak'tanah, which, when spelled out in Hebrew, means "the worm." Though her self-imposed pseudonym reflects the modesty expected of and cultivated by Jewish women of the time, Morpurgo proved herself to be a woman of independence and determination. When her family disapproved of Jacob Morpurgo as her choice for a husband (most likely owing to the fact that he was a simple merchant), she refused to marry anyone else. Her family finally relented, and she married at age 29.

There are conflicting accounts of the Morpurgo marriage. One biographer maintained that it was quite happy, as Morpurgo found time to care for her four children in addition to pursuing her literary and intellectual interests. Other scholars indicate that she existed in a state of near-poverty and could only find time to write at night or during rare holidays. Near the end of her life, Morpurgo became acquainted with Lady Judith Montefiore , a wealthy Jewish society woman, and traveled with her to Palestine, thereby becoming one of the few European women to visit that land in the 17th century. Rachel Morpurgo died in 1871 at the age of 81. In 1890, on the centennial anniversary of her birth, her collected letters and poems were published in the volume Rachel's Harp.

sources:

Henry, Sandra, and Emily Taitz. Written Out of History: Our Jewish Foremothers. 3rd ed. NY: Biblio Press, 1988.

Rebecca Parks , Detroit, Michigan