John of Capua

For the Lombard ruler of Capua, see John, Prince of Capua.

John of Capua also known as Johannes de Capua and Giovanni da Capua (born earlier than 1250, died later than 1300) was an Italian Jewish convert to Christianity, and a translator. He translated Rabbi Joel's Hebrew version of Kalilah wa-Dimnah into Latin under the title Directorium Vitae Humanae. His translation was the source from which that work became so widely spread in almost all European languages. It was edited by Joseph Derenbourg (Paris, 1887). John of Capua also translated Maimonides' Dietary and Ibn Zuhr's (Avenzoar's) Al-Taisir, on diseases.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
• Brief biography of John of Capua at Jewish Virtual Library

External links

• Bibliotheca Augustana, Iohannes de Capua, Directorium humanae vitae
• Directorium humanae vitae, alias parabolae antiquorum sapientum, edited by Puntoni, 1884, at Google Books