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Immanuel Frances (22 July 1618 (?) – after 1703) was an Italian Jewish poet and rabbinical scholar.


Biography

Born at Mantua, he received his instruction from his elder brother
Jacob Frances Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...
and from Joseph Firmo of Ancona. In 1674 he was chosen by some Italian communities to represent them in a case against the heirs of R. Zachariah Porto. A responsum by him in this matter is found in ''She'elot u-Teshubot Mayim Rabbim''. Another responsum is cited in Lampronti's ''Paḥad Yiẓḥaḳ''. Both he and his brother Jacob were determined opponents of the followers of
Shabbethai Ẓebi Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
, against whom they wrote a volume of poems entitled ''Ẓebi Muddaḥ'' (ed.
Marco Mortara Marco Mortara (born at Viadana, 7 May 1815; died at Mantua, 2 February 1894) was an Italian rabbi and scholar. Having graduated from the rabbinical college of Padua in 1836, he was called as rabbi to Mantua in 1842, and occupied this position unti ...
, in ''Ḳobeẓ 'al Yad'' of the
Meḳiẓe Nirdamim Mekitze Nirdamim ( he, מְקִיצֵי נִרְדָּמִים, ''Meḳitse nirdamim'', "Rousers of Those Who Slumber") is a literary society dedicated to the retrieval, preservation, and publication of medieval Hebrew texts. It was first establ ...
, 1885). Frances also opposed the cabalists, creating so strong a feeling among the rabbis of Mantua that they destroyed his brother's published poems and forced him (Frances) to leave the city. He wandered from place to place, even to
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, settling finally in Livorno. He wrote to his friend Abraham Kokab to protest against his busying himself with classical literature. In addition to many
occasional poems Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...
, Frances wrote, in conjunction with his brother Jacob, ''Wikkuaḥ Itiel we-Ukal'', a dialogue on woman, and ''Wikkuaḥ Libni we-Shim'i'', on his brother's poem against the cabalists. Two of Immanuel's poems were published by Nepi-Ghirondi in "Toledot Gedole Yisrael" (pp. 291–293), others by Abraham Baruch Piperno in ''Ḳol 'Ugab'' (1846). Immanuel's best-known work is ''Meteḳ Sefatayim'' (written in Algiers), a treatise on Hebrew prosody, in which he makes use of a number of his own verses. It has been edited by
H. Brody H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet. H may also refer to: Musical symbols * H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů * H, B (musical note) * H, B major People * H. (noble) (died after 1279) ...
(''Hebr. Prosodie von Immanuel Frances'', 1892), and translated and thoroughly discussed by Martin Hartmann (''Die Hebräische Verskunst'', 1894).


References

*
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; ...
, Verzeichniss der Hebräischen Handeshriften, etc., i. 34, Berlin, 1878; * Adolf Neubauer, Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. col. 681; *
David Kahana David Kohn (1838–1915) was a Russian archaeologist and Hebrew writer. He was born at Odessa and received a rabbinic education, but at the age of fourteen he took up the study of medieval literature and modern languages, and soon afterward, hist ...
, Sefer Or wa-Ḥoshek, in Gräber's Magazin für Hebräische Literatur und Wissenschaft, vol. i., Jaroslav, 1887
Immanuel Frances
at the Jewish Encyclopedia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frances, Immanuel 1618 births 1700s deaths Writers from Mantua 17th-century Italian Jews Italian poets Italian male poets Hebrew-language poets Occasional poets