Samuel Joseph Fuenn
Encyclopedia
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
. He received the usual Talmudic education, and also acquired an extensive general knowledge of the profane sciences. In 1848 the government appointed him professor of Hebrew and Jewish history
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
in the newly founded rabbinical school of Vilnius. Fuenn filled this position with great distinction till 1856, when he resigned. The government then appointed him superintendent of the Jewish public schools in the district of Vilnius, in which he introduced instruction in the secular sciences and modern languages. Fuenn also took an active part in the administration of the city and in its charitable institutions, and was for many years an alderman. In acknowledgment of his services the government awarded him two medals.
Works
Fuenn was a prolific writer, devoting his activity mainly to the fields of history and literature. He published the following works:- Imre Shefer, two lectures (one delivered by the author; the other translated from the GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
), Vilnius, 1841 - Pirḥe Ẓafon, (with L. Hurwitz) a review of history, literature, and exegesis, 2 vols., ib. 1841-44
- Shenot Dor we-Dor, a chronology of Biblical history, Königsberg, 1847
- Nidḥe Yisrael, a history of the Jews and Jewish literature from the destruction of the TempleTemple in JerusalemThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
to 1170, Vilnius, 1850 - Ḳiryah Ne'emanah, a history of the Jews of Vilnius, ib. 1860
- Dibre ha-Yamim li-Bene Yisrael, a history of the Jews and their literature, in two volumes (the first dealing with the period extending from the banishment of Jehoiachin to the death of Alexander the Great; the second from Alexander's death to the installation of Simon Maccabeus as high priest and prince), ib. 1871-77
- Sofre Yisrael, selected letters of Hebrew stylists from Ḥasdai ibn ShaprutHasdai ibn ShaprutHasdai ibn Shaprut born about 915 at Jaén; died about 975 at Córdoba in Spain, was a Jewish scholar, physician, diplomat, and patron of science....
(915-970) to modern times, ib. 1871 - Bustanai, a fictional narrative based on people from the time of the GeonimGeonimGeonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
, translated from the German, ib. 1872 - Ma'amar 'al ha-Hashgaḥah, a Hebrew translation of Moses MendelssohnMoses MendelssohnMoses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
's Die Sache Gottes, ib. 1872 - Ha-Ḥilluf, a Hebrew adaptation of LehmannLehmannLehmann is a common Germanic surname derived from the German word Lehen, meaning fiefdom. Some Jewish Lehmann families state that the origin of their name is from the German words for "Lion Man"...
's Graf und Jude, ib. 1873 - Ḥuḳḳe 'Abodat ha-Ẓaba, Russian laws relating to the conscription, ib. 1874
- Ya'aḳob Tirado, a Hebrew translation of a German novel by PhilippsonPhilippsonPhilippson is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Philipp", the German language given name variant of "Philip", both derived from philippos, of Ancient Greek origin ."Philipp" evolved into "Philippson", a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews...
, ib. 1874 - Ha-Tefillin, a Hungarian village tale translated from the German into Hebrew, ib. 1874
- Le-Toledot R. Sa'adyah Gaon, materials for the biography of SaadiaSaadiaSaadia is a Jewish name and Arabic name. it can refer to several people:*Saadia Gaon - Ninth century rabbi, philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.*Saadia Afzaal - Pakistani journalist and television news anchor....
, published in Ha-Karmel (vol. ii., 1871) - Ḥakme Yisrael bi-Krim we-Gedole Yisrael be-Ṭurḳiya, biographies of Jewish scholars in the Crimea and in Turkey in the 14th and 15th centuries, published in Ha-Karmel (1861)
- Safah le-Ne'emanim, an essay on the value and significance of the Hebrew language and literature in the development of culture among the Russian Jews, Vilnius, 1881
- Ha-Yerushshah, Hebrew adaptation of HonigmannHonigmann* Barbara Honigmann , a Jewish German author and artist* E. A. J. Honigmann , Shakespeare scholar and Fellow of the British Academy...
's Die Erbschaft, ib. 1884 - Ha-Oẓar, a Hebrew and Chaldaic dictionary giving Russian and German equivalents for the words of the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, and Midrashim, vol. i. (from א to ו), Warsaw, 1884 - Keneset Yisrael, biographical lexicon of Jewish scholars and other prominent men arranged in alphabetical order, vol. i. (from א to ו), ib. 1886-90.
For twenty-one years (1860-81) Fuenn directed the paper Ha-Karmel (at first a weekly, but since 1871 a monthly), devoted to Hebrew literature and Jewish life, with supplements in Russian and German. The paper contained many scientific articles by the leading Jewish scholars of Europe, besides numerous contributions from Fuenn's own pen.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Ha-Yom, 1887, No. 214;
- Ha-Asif, 1893, p. 141;
- Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Literatur, iii.753, 853, 855, 877, 878, 898;
- William ZeitlinWilliam ZeitlinWilliam Zeitlin was a Russian scholar and bibliographer born at Homel, government of Moghilef, about the middle of the 19th century...
, Bibliotheca Hebraica Post-Mendelssohniana p. 101.