Salomon Jacob Cohen (; 23 December 1771 - 20 February 1845) was a German Jewish Hebrew scholar, teacher, writer and translator of the Bible. He was an important representative of the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

in Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna.

Life

Cohen was born in

Międzyrzecz Międzyrzecz (; , , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Obra (river), Obra and Paklica river, with 17,667 inhabitants (2020). The capital of Gmina Międzyrzecz and Międzyrzecz County. Since the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998, it ha ...

(

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

), which after the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

became administered as part of

South Prussia South Prussia (; ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1793 to 1807 created out of territory annexed in the Second Partition of Poland. History South Prussia was created out of territory annexed in the Second Partition of Poland and i ...

. As a teenager, he went to Berlin, where he studied with

Naphtali Hirz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely (; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was a German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, Joseph Reis, fled from Podolia in 1648 on account of the Chmielnicki persecutions ...

and developed an appreciation of Hebrew poetry. He was soon regarded as an outstanding stylist of Hebrew. From 1800 to 1808, he taught Hebrew and religion at the Jewish Free School in Berlin, founded by

David Friedländer David Friedländer (sometimes spelled Friedlander; 6 December 1750, Königsberg – 25 December 1834, Berlin) was a German banker, writer and communal leader. Life Communal leader and author in Berlin, a pioneer of the practice and ideology of ...

. In 1808, he founded the Society of Friends of the Hebrew Language (''Gesellschaft der Freunde der hebräischen Sprache''). From 1809 to 1811, he was the last editor of the first Hebrew literary journal ''Ha-Meassef'', which he tried unsuccessfully to revive. Cohen also lived in

Altona, Hamburg Altona (), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, urban borough (''Bezirk'') of the Germany, German States of Germany, city state of Hamburg. Located on the right bank of the Elbe river, Alton ...

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

before settling in Hamburg. In 1820, he went to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he founded the first Hebrew journal in Austria, the literary magazine ''Bikkurej ha-ittim'' ("First Fruits of the Times"). In 1810, he translated the biblical book of Jeremiah into German; and from 1824 to 1827, he completed a German edition of the Old Testament in Hamburg. He died in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Selected works

* ''Mishle Agur.'' Berlin 1799 (Collection of stories, with German translation). * ''Torat Leschon Ivrit - Hebräische Sprachlehre.'' Three volumes, Berlin 1802. * ''Morgenländische Pflanzen auf nördlichem Boden. Eine Sammlung neuer Hebräischer Poesien nebst deutscher Uebersetzung.'' Frankfurt a. M. 180
Digitalisat
* ''Katechismus der israelitischen Religion. Zum ersten Unterricht für Israelitische Knaben und Mädchen.'' Hamburg 1812 (also translated into Danish). * ''Amal-ve-Thuerza.'' Rödelheim 1812 (Drama). * ''Schorsche Emunah.'' London 1815 (Handbook of Judaism; English translation by Dr. Josua van Oven). * ''Masa Batawi.'' Amsterdam 1814 (Dutch epic; Dutch translation by H. Somerhausen). * ''Ketaw Joscher.'' Wien 1820 (Collection of Hebrew and German letters). * ''Die heilige Schrift. mit möglichster Correctheit des hebräischen Textes. Nebst verbesserter deutscher Uebersetzung.'' Hamburg 1824/27. * ''Ner Dawid.'' Wien 1834 (Poem
Digitalisat
* ''Kore ha-Dorot.'' Wilna 1837 (Jewish story).

References

* Günter Stemberger, ''Geschichte der jüdischen Literatur'', München 1977. * Meyer Waxman: ''A History of Jewish Literature.''

936 Year 936 ( CMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 19 – At Laon, Louis IV, the 14-year old son of the late King Charles the Simple, is crowned King of West Francia afte ...

Bd. 3: ''From the Middle of the Eighteenth Century to 1880.'' New York/London 1960 (3. Aufl.). S. 153–158. * Shmuel Feiner: ''The Neglected Generation: Post-Berlin Maskilim in the Age of Conservatism, 1797–1824.'' In: Studia Rosenthaliana 40 (2007/2008). S. 205–215. * Judah Leo Landau: ''Short Lectures on Modern Hebrew Literature.'' Johannesburg 1923, S. 111–126. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Salomon Jacob 1771 births 1845 deaths German scholars 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers People from Międzyrzecz People of the Haskalah