LUZZATTO, SAMUEL DAVID. – A learned Jew, one of the founders of the science of Judaism, b. at Trieste on 22 Aug. 1800, d. at Padua on 30 Sept. 1865. He became known in his community for several poetic compositions in Hebrew. In 1825 he published a work on Hebrew synonyms. In 1829 he was appointed teacher of Bible, grammar, history, and Hebrew theology at the Rabbinical College of Padua. Numerous family misfortunes and the precarious position of the College made his industrious existence difficult.
Among his early works should be remembered: the Italian translations of the Hebrew prayers according to the German and Italian rites (Vienna 1821–22, 1829); a commentary on the Pentateuch (ibid. 1846–47); Prolegomena to a Reasoned Grammar of the Hebrew Language (Padua 1853–1869); the Italian translation, with Hebrew commentary, of Isaiah (ibid. 1855–67); Grammatical Elements of Biblical Chaldean and the Babylonian Talmudic Dialect (ibid. 1865); the Italian translation of the entire Bible, prepared by L. together with his disciples (Rovigo 1866–67; the Pentateuch separately, ibid. 1872); the Italian translation of the Pentateuch with Hebrew commentary (Padua 1871–76); Hebrew commentaries (Pêrâfim) on selected passages from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs, Job (Leopoli 1876). L. also published a songbook of his own and many dissertations of scholarly interest. The fruit of his teaching includes: Hebrew Calendar for Twenty Centuries (1849); Lectures on Israelite Moral Theology (1862); Lectures on Israelite Dogmatic Theology (1864); Historical-Religious Discourses to Israelite Students (1870). His Autobiography was published posthumously (1882). The importance of his correspondence in Hebrew and Italian is considerable from a scholarly point of view.