Moses Chayyim Catalan (b.

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, d. 1661, Padua) was an Italian poet. A son of the physician

Abraham Catalan Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the ...

, he was

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

in his native town, and died there at an advanced age in 1661. It was to him that the first letters of

Isaac Vita Cantarini Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...

, whose teacher he was, were addressed. His "Metzaref ha-Sekel", a rhetorical pamphlet on man, has never been published. He wrote a poem in honor of the marriage of his sister Perla to

Raphael Gans Levi Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

, which can be read either as Hebrew or as Italian. It has been reprinted by Johann Christoph Wolf, ''Bibliotheca Hebræa'' iii. 726. In 1645 he wrote a similar poem in honor of

Shabbethai Astruc __NOTOC__ Shabtai (Sabbatai, Sabbathai, Shabbatai, Shabbethai, etc.) is a Jewish name common in the Middle Ages for boys born on Shabbat, and may refer to: People Given name * Shabtai (given name) Surname *Aharon Shabtai (born 1939), poet and tra ...

. An elegy on Lamentations in ''

ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The o ...

'' was also published by him at Padua.

Bibliography

*Isaac Chayyim Cantarini, ''Pachad Yitzchaq'', 10a *Marco Osimo, ''Narrazione'', p. 68 *Franz Delitzsch, ''Zur Geschichte der Jüdischen Poesie'', p. 71 *

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, ''Catalogus Librorum Hebræorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana'' col. 1785 *Cat. Ghirondi (Sam. Schönblum, Berlin, 1872), p. 2, cod. 4B (where the pamphlet is erroneously ascribed to Abraham Catalan, "rabbi in Padua") *Moritz Steinschneider, in ''Monatsschrift'', xliii. 420 1661 deaths Rabbis from Padua 17th-century Italian rabbis Jewish writers Year of birth unknown {{Italy-reli-bio-stub