David Castelli (December 30, 1836, Leghorn,

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

– 1901,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

) was an Italian scholar and educator in the field of secular

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...

. He was educated at the rabbinical college of Leghorn, and from 1857 to 1863 was teacher of Hebrew and Italian in the

Jewish schools A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...

of that city. Then he became secretary of the Jewish congregation in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, where at the same time he was a private teacher. From January 1876 until his death he occupied the chair of Hebrew at the ''Istituto di Studi Superiori Pratici e di Perfezionamento'' in Florence.

Biography

David Castelli was born in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, a city which in the 19th century, under the guidance of Rabbi Elia Benamozegh, became the seat of one of the liveliest

Italian Jewish Italian Jews (; ) or Roman Jews (; ) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the It ...

communities of the time. Of Castelli's numerous works and essays the following may be mentioned. Initiated by his father to the rabbinical profession, Castelli was self-taught for his higher education until from 1857 to 1863 he was a teacher of

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

and literature in the schools of the city. * ''L'Ecclesiaste, Traduzione e Studio Critico'', Pisa, 1866 * ''Leggende Talmudiche, Traduzione con Prefazione Critica'', Pisa, 1869 * ''Il Messia Secondo gli Ebrei'' Florence, 1874 * ''Il Diritto di Testare nella Legislazione Ebraica'', Florence, 1878 * ''Della Poesia Biblica'', Florence, 1878 * "Il Commento di Sabbatai Donnolo al Libro della Creazione, Testo Ebraico con Note Critiche e Introduzione in Ebraico e in Italiano", Florence, 1880, in ''Pubblicazioni del Regio Istituto di Studi Superiori'' * ''La Profezia nella Biblia'', Florence, 1882 * ''La Legge del Popolo Ebreo nel suo Storico Svolgimento'', Florence, 1884 * ''Storia degli Israeliti Secondo le Fonti Bibliche Criticamente Esposte'', 2 vols., Milan, 1887–88 * ''Il Cantico dei Cantici, Studio Esegetico, Traduzione e Note'', Florence, 1892 * ''Ammaestramenti del Vecchio e del Nuovo Testamento, Raccolti e Tradotti'', Florence, 1896 * ''Il Poema Semitico del Pessimismo (Il Libro di Job), Tradotto e Commentato'', Florence, 1897 * ''Gli Ebrei, Sunto di Storia Politica e Letteraria'', Florence, 1899 Castelli was the first biblical scholar to introduce in Italy the strand of the so-called "historical-critical method," begun in Germany by

Ferdinand Christian Baur Ferdinand Christian Baur (; 21 June 1792 – 2 December 1860) was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hege ...

(1792–1860) and the

Tübingen School Tübingen (; ) is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three of the 90,000 people ...

, and taken up by

David Strauss David Friedrich Strauss (; ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus", whose divine nature he explored via myth. St ...

and

Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (; ; 28 July 1804 – 13 September 1872) was a German anthropologist and philosopher, best known for his book '' The Essence of Christianity'', which provided a critique of Christianity that strongly influenced ge ...

. This model of critical approach contrasted with the tradition of textual and philological biblical exegesis (renamed lower criticism), and was the projection of a broader existential and cultural program of rupture with Judeo-Christian orthodoxy, in favor of national identities and its absorption into a

Laicism Laicism (also ''laicity'', from the Ancient Greek "''λαϊκός"'' "''laïkós"'', meaning "layperson" or "non-cleric") refers to a legal and political model based on the strict separation of religion and state. The French term ''laïcité'' ...

and

Universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...

. Castelli translated from Hebrew into Italian the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

, the

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

, publishing various studies on Jewish history, politics and law.

References

Bibliography

* Facchini, C., ''David Castelli. Ebraismo e scienze delle religioni tra Otto e Novecento'', Brescia: Morcelliana, 2005

External links

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Brief biographical information
1836 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Italian educators 19th-century Jewish biblical scholars Italian biblical scholars Jewish educators 19th-century Italian Jews Livornese Jews {{Italy-academic-bio-stub