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Elia Levita (, 13 February 1469 – 28 January 1549) was a Renaissance Hebrew grammarian, Hebraist, and poet. He was the author of the Bovo-Bukh, the most popular Yiddish chivalric romance. He was one of the foremost teachers of Hebrew language and Jewish mysticism to Christian clergy, nobility, and intellectuals during the Renaissance.
He wrote the 650 ottava rima stanzas of the Bovo-Bukh in Padua in 1504, based on the popular romance Buovo d'Antona, itself based on the Anglo-Norman romance, Bevis of Hampton.Liptzin, p.6. He was living in Venice by 1514, where he wrote two scathing satirical . He moved to Rome that same year, where he acquired a friend and patron, the Renaissance humanist cardinal, Giles of Viterbo, whose palace he lived in for more than a decade. Levita taught Hebrew language to Giles, and copied Hebrew manuscripts, mostly related to the Kabbalah, for the cardinal's library.
The first edition of Levita's Baḥur is dedicated to his patron, to whom he also dedicated his Concordance. The Sack of Rome in 1527 sent him into exile once more, back to Venice, where he worked as a proofreader and taught Hebrew. He published a treatise in Venice on the laws of Hebrew cantillation, entitled Sefer Tuv Ta'am.
During the Reformation, which saw an increase in study of the Hebrew Bible, and its language and importance in the history of the world, he furthered the learning of Hebrew in Christian circles by his teachings and writings. To his pupils especially belong Sebastian Münster, who translated Levita's grammatical works into Latin, and Georges de Selve, Bishop of Lavaur, the French ambassador in Venice. It was also during this time that he became acquainted with Samson Ha-Nakdan.
Bavaria
He left alone in 1540 for Isny, Bavaria, on the invitation of Paul Fagius to superintend his Hebrew printing-press there. During his time with Fagius, he published several works. Tishbi, a dictionary focusing on words that don't appear in the Nathan ben Jehiel's Arukh, containing 712 words used in Talmud and Midrash, with explanations in German and a Latin translation by Fagius. Sefer Meturgeman, explaining all the Aramaic words found in the Targum; Shemot Devarim, an alphabetical list of Yiddish technical terms translated into Hebrew, Latin, and German;Heidi Stern, 2010. p. 205, and a new and revised edition of his Baḥur. Jewish Encyclopedia article. While in Germany, he also printed his Bovo-Bukh.
Later years
On returning to Venice, in spite of his great age, Elia worked on editions of several works, including David Kimhi's Miklol, which he also annotated. He died there 28 January 1549. His monument in the graveyard of the Jewish community at Venice boasts of him that "he illuminated the darkness of grammar and turned it into light."
Legacy
He has descendants living today, including former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron, who describes him as "my forefather Elijah Levita who wrote what is thought to have been the first ever Yiddish novel".
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Categories: 1469 Births, 1549 Deaths, German Ashkenazi Jews, People From Neustadt -bad Windsheim, Medieval Hebraists, Jewish Poets, Yiddish-language Poets, Jewish Translators Of The Bible, 15th-century German Jews, 16th-century German Jews, 16th-century German Poets, Renaissance Humanists, Renaissance Writers, Jewish Humanists, Jewish Grammarians
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