Abraham Cohen of Zante | |
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Born | 1670 |
Died | 1729 (aged 58–59) |
Occupation(s) | Physician, rabbi, philosopher, and poet |
Abraham Cohen (Abraham ben Shabbetai ha-Kohen) (1670 – 1729) was a Jewish physician, rabbi, religious philosopher and poet on Zante ( Zakynthos), an Ionian Island, and an overseas colony of the Venetian Republic.
Cohen's family was moderately wealthy and lived on Crete where he was born, [1] although he lived most of his adult life in the town of Zante where he practiced medicine. [2] He was a scholar and graduated as a physician from the University of Padua. [3]
In 1700 Cohen published in Venice his Derashot 'al ha-Torah, [3] a common title for homilies ( sermons) and commentary on the Pentateuch (Torah). His Derashot 'al ha-Torah is also known as Kebod Chacamim or Kevod Ḥakhamim (The Glory of Wise Men). [4] In 1719 he published in Venice his Kehunnat Abraham (כהנת אברהם), a book of religious poems in Hebrew written in the manner of and inspired by the Psalms (Tehillim). Cohen used a number of different meters in his poetry. [3] His Kehunnat Abraham created a stir within the Jewish community of the Venetian Republic and other parts of Italy, full of compliments. Joseph Fiametta published a poem in praise of it, [5] as did Issac Vita Cantarini and Shabbethai Marini, both in the mode of the times, sonnet form. [6] Cohen's engraved self-portrait appears on the fly-leaf of his Kehunnat Abraham complete with wig. [7]
In 1879 M. Ventura of Corfu found a Hebrew poem by Cohen inscribed on the wall of the synagogue in Candia, Crete, and later published his discovery. [3]