Cologna, Abraham Vita (Chai) de

(FRENCH -ITALIAN JUDAICA)

Paris, 1822

and Trieste,1827

Autograph Manuscript on paper. Sermon preached at the Dedication of the New Israelite Temple, Paris. March 5th, 1822. French with occasional use of Hebrew. ff.8. * WITH: “Manifest d’Associazione delle Haphtorath kol Hashanah...Tradotte in Italiano.” Manuscript Signed (together with Hebrew wax-seal), in Italian with few words in Hebrew along with Hebrew date

De Cologna (1754-1832), was a delegate to the Assembly of Jewish Notables convened by Napoleon in 1806. In 1807 he was given the honorific “Haham” and appointed Vice President of the Sanhedrin. He also served as one of the three Grand Rabbins of the Central Consistoire, later assuming the position of its’ President and first Chief Rabbi of France. Toward the end of his active career he returned to his native Italy and occupied the pulpit of Trieste. In his speech at the Inaugration of the grand Synagogue on Paris’ rue de la Notre Dame, de Cologna praises King Louis XVIII for his magnanimous policy towards his Jewish subjects, which warrants them the free exercise of their religious practices. The “Manifest” contract established an agreement with de Cologna for the publication of an Italian translation of the Haphtoroth for the use of school-students. Apparently this translation was never actualized