Samuel Romanelli (born at Mantua Sept. 19, 1757; died at Casale Monferrato Oct. 17, 1814) was an Italian-born Jewish maskil and Hebrew poet.
[1] A man of great gifts but unsteady in his habits, Romanelli began to travel early in life.
Returning to Europe, he lived successively in Berlin (1791), Vienna (1793), London (1799), and Lille (France), going back to his native country about 1800.
Romanelli supported himself by teaching and by writing Hebrew and Italian poems for weddings, patriotic feasts, and similar occasions; but, being erratic and a scoffer of religion, he made very many enemies, and always lived in great poverty.
Notable among his translations from Italian are those of Metastasio's melodrama "Themistocles" and Maffei's tragedy "Merope"; the latter has been edited by Weikert, a Benedictine monk (Rome, 1903, 2d ed.