David Franco-Mendes
David Franco Mendes (* 1713 in Amsterdam, † 1792 ) was a Dutch- Jewish poet of Portuguese origin and early proponent of the Haskalah.
Life
Franco - Mendes came from a distinguished family of Portuguese conversos. He demonstratively hebraisierte the Franco his name in Chofschi ( חפשי, = free ) to disengage from the past as a forced convert. He received an excellent education, including in particular the knowledge of several European languages belonged. Likewise, he was considered a Talmud scholar and authority in matters of Halacha. In his youth he was influenced by Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, who had been exiled to Holland because of messianic activities from Italy. Mendes was in 1769 a member of the Amadores Musa, a literary society. He used contacts to numerous personalities of the newly flourishing Jewish literary world. His livelihood he earned in later years as a copyist and writer after he failed in 1778 as a merchant.
Work
In an era of rebirth of the Hebrew language in central and northwestern Europe as the language of literature Franco - Mendes was one of the first playwrights, although mainly he created adaptations. The latter include, for example גמול עתליה (Eng. The retribution of Athalia; Erstdruck Amsterdam 1770), an adaptation of Racine's Athalie. It is also known a translation of a poem about the history of Judith by Pietro Metastasio by him under the title תשועת ישראל נידי יהודית (Eng. The salvation of Israel by Judit; Erstdruck Roedelheim 1804). For the Hebrew -language magazine published in Berlin Hame'assef (German collector ), which was modeled after the Berlinischen monthly magazine, he was one of the most enthusiastic employees. He also wrote a number of biographical demolition of significant members of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam. Many of his works are, however, still still only in manuscript.
Works
- Memorias do estabelecimento: E progresso dos Judeos Portuguezes e Espanhoes nesta famosa citade de Amsterdam Portuguese = A chronicle of the history of the Sephardim in Amsterdam up to 1772; (Eds. ) Leo Fuks; R. G. Fuks -Mansfeld; B.N. Teensma. - Assen / Amsterdam: . Van Gorcum, 1975 - xiv, 233 pp. ISBN 90-232-1322- X