Giuseppe Almanzi

Who was Giuseppe Almanzi?

Joseph Almanzi was an Italian Jewish bibliophile and poet. The eldest son of Baruch Hayyim Almanzi, a wealthy merchant; he received a good education by private tutors, one of whom was Israel Conian. According to the Italian custom, he began at an early age to write Hebrew poems on special occasions. At the age of twenty he was a devoted student of Jewish literature and an ardent collector of Hebrew books. Rare books and manuscripts that he could not purchase he copied. He had a good command over the Hebrew, Italian, Latin, German, and French languages, and is said also to have known Syriac. His tastes as a bibliophile were fed by the large and well-selected library formerly belonging to Hayyim Joseph David Azulai, which his father had bought from Azulai's son, Raphael Isaiah, at Ancona. This library was largely increased by Joseph Almanzi, its rare editions and manuscripts making it one of the most important in private possession. Its treasures were freely used by Luzzatto, Steinschneider, Zunz, etc. During the last few years of his life Almanzi lived at Trieste, where he took a lively interest in all communal affairs. Here he died unmarried.