Abraham Abba Rakowski (; November or December 1854 – 1921) was a Galician

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

writer, journalist, and translator.

Biography

Rakowski was born in Mariampol,

Austrian Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

, the son of Rabbi Azriel Arye Leib Rakowski of Plotzk. He studied

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

under his father, and was educated privately in Hebrew and modern languages. From 1872 onward he was a frequent contributor to Hebrew journals, especially '' Ha-Tzfira''. Among Rakowski's publications were ''Nidḥe Israel'' (Warsaw, 1875), a translation of

Philippson Philippson is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Philipp", coming from the German language given name variant of " Philip", both derived from ''philippos'', of Ancient Greek origin (prefix ''philein'', meaning "to love"; suffix ''hippos'', mea ...

's novel on the

Marrano Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to practice Judaism in secrecy. The term specifically refers to the charge ...

s; ''Ḥoter mi-geza Ishai'' (Warsaw, 1880), a translation of

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

's romance ''

The Wondrous Tale of Alroy ''The Wondrous Tale of Alroy'' is the sixth novel written by Benjamin Disraeli, who would later become a Prime Minister of Britain. It is a fictionalised account of the life of David Alroy. Its significance lies in its portrayal of Disraeli's ...

''; ''Ha-nekamah'' (Warsaw, 1883), a historical narrative; and ''Masekhet shetarot'' (1894), a Talmudic parody. He also published numerous works in Naḥum Sokolow's yearly journal '' Ha-Asif'', including ''Nispe belo mishpat'', a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

; ''Leil hitkadesh ḥag ha-Pesaḥ'', a story of the Prague ghetto; ''Ta'alumot ha-mikroskop'', a humorous story; ''Dibrei ḥakhamim'', a collection of pithy sayings and citations from

world literature World literature is used to refer to the total of the world's national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of Western European lit ...

; ''Min ha-metzar'', a translation of a story by

Auerbach Auerbach, German for "meadow-brook", may refer to the following: Places In Austria *Auerbach, Upper Austria, Braunau am Inn district In Germany Places: *Auerbach (Albtal), a village of Karlsbad, administrative area in Baden-Württemberg * Auerb ...

on the Prague ghetto; ''Ha-kesef'', a history of the development of money and of its influence upon culture, political economy, and commerce; ''Devar Eloheinu yakum le-olam'', an epitome of the history of Semitic nations during the Biblical ages; ''Zaken ve-yeled'', a translation from the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

of Okanski; and ''Al admat nekhar'', a translation of Orzeszkowa's ''Mirtala''. By 1895 Rakowski had become a prosperous merchant at Zambrov,

Russian Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rakowski, Abraham Abba 1854 births 1921 deaths 19th-century Jews 19th-century translators English–Hebrew translators Hebrew-language writers Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People of the Haskalah Polish parodists People from Marijampolė People from Zambrów Polish Hebraists Translators from Polish Translators to Hebrew