Samuel Vita della Volta


Samuel Vita della Volta, also known by the acronyms שמ״ח and שח״ם, was an Italian physician and Hebraist, who flourished in Mantua. He wrote a number of commentaries, sermons, and responsa, which remain in manuscript.
Della Volta was the owner of a large Hebrew library, which, together with its 131 manuscripts, came into the possession of Marco Mortara. He was also a contributor to the periodical . A letter from Isaac Samuel Reggio to Della Volta appeared in Otzar Neḥmad, and several letters between him and Samuel David Luzzatto are preserved in his Epistolario italiano, francese, latino.

Selected works

The following works are held in the Kaufmann manuscript collection at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest:Kuntras ktiv ismaḥ. Commentaries, sermons, and responsa.'. Talmudic commentaries.Igerot. Correspondences from 1793 to 1797.
  • '. Biblical commentaries.' Dan yadin.
  • Preface to Shlomo Norzi's '.'. Correspondences from 1838 to 1840.Kilutim. Assorted historical texts and poems in Hebrew and Italian.
  • '. Sermons.Meshiv nefesh. Prayers for Yom Kippur.