BARZILAI, GIUSEPPE:

By: Isidore Singer

Italian lawyer and Biblical commentator; born at Gradisca, near Triest, Austria, in 1828; studied at Casalmaggiore, province of Cremona. After having completed his law studies at the University of Padua, Barzilai established himself as attorney at law at Triest, where he distinguished himself by successfully carrying through several criminal lawsuits. An excellent Hebraist and archeologist, he published the following works: (1) "I Treni di Geremia" (transl. of Lamentations, with notes), Triest, 1867; (2) "Il Cantico, di Salomone," a metrical translation of The Song of Songs, with notes; (3) "Il Beemoth" (Mammut), a contribution to Biblical paleontology; (4) "Il Leviatan"; (5) "Un Errore di Trenta Secoli," Triest, 1868; (6) "Gli Abraxas" (an archeological study); (7) "Nuove Ipotesi Intorno a due Celebri Versi della Divina Commedia"; (8) "Ideografia Semitica e Trasformazione della Radice Ebraica Nelle LingueIndo-Europee, a contribution to Semitic ideography; (9) "Sul Nuovo Indirizzo da Darsi all' Aeronautica."

Barzilai was secretary of the Jewish congregation in Triest.

S.