Micha Josef Lebensohn

Micha Josef Lebensohn

Micha Josef Lebensohn (also called Michal for short = MI Kohen Lebensohn; * February 22, 1828 in Wilna ; † February 17, 1852 ibid) was a Hebrew poet and translator into the Hebrew language.

Life

Micha Josef Lebensohn was instructed in the Bible , Talmud , profane sciences and languages from his father, the Hebrew poet and enlightenmentist Abraham Dob Lebensohn . His son's tuberculosis, diagnosed very early on, and the prospect of a not too distant death soon drove him into nihilistic pessimism. In 1847 he moved to Berlin , where he met Leopold Zunz and heard Schelling , who strengthened Lebensohn's worldview , which had meanwhile been further developed in the direction of pantheism . In 1851 Lebensohn returned to Vilnius, where, not even 24 years old, he died a year later.

Micha Josef Lebensohn translated various works of world literature (above all Classical Antiquity - among which a copy of the Aeneid stands out - and Weimar Classics) into Hebrew, but also turned to biblical material at the insistence of his friends (here his best epic Schlomo we-Kohelet deserves particular Mention). His high-quality poetry was neither purposeful nor sentimental-philosophical - as was often the case with his father's - but pure poetry in which Heine's influence asserts itself .

After Lebensohn's death, his father published some of the poems and translations he had left behind under the title Kinnor asked Zion . Lebensohn's letters are also of cultural historical value. A selection of his complete works was published in 1924 by the Ajanot publishing house in Berlin.

Literature (selection)

• Simon Rawidowicz: LIVING SON, Micha Josef. In: Jewish Lexicon . Vol. III, Berlin 1927, Col. 1001-1002.
• Salomon Wininger : Great Jewish National Biography. Vol. IV, Druckerei Orient, Czernowitz 1930, pp. 2–3.
• Günter Stemberger : History of Jewish Literature. Munich 1977.