OTTOLENGO, JOSEPH:

By: Isidore Singer, Umberto Cassuto

Italian scholar of the sixteenth century; died about 1570. He was a German by birth, but went from Ettlingen to Cremona. There he conducted a school ("Hebr. Bibl." v. 125, note), and became involved in a feud with Joshua dei Cantori, who, partly for this reason, agreed to serve with Vittorio Eliano on the censorship committee which condemned the Talmud. He published, or caused to be published at his expense, about twenty Hebrew books at Riva di Trento, between 1558 and 1562, in the printing-house founded by Cardinal Cristoforo Madruz. Ghirondi says erroneously that Ottolengo had these books printed at Cremona, and both he and Fürst wrongly ascribe to him the authorship of the "Diḳduḳe Rashi," a compendium of Elijah Mizraḥi's supercommentary to Rashi, which he merely edited. It is possible that the author was really Jacob Marcaria, who wrote prefaces to some of Ottolengo's editions. Ottolengo was the author of the following works: "Luaḥ mi-Kol ha-Dinim" (Riva di Trento, 1558), a list of the decisions of the RaN; and "Simane Mordekai" (ib. 1558).

S. U. C.