Henri Meschonnic

Henri Meschonnic (18 September 1932, Paris – 8 April 2009, Villejuif) was a French poet, linguist, essayist and translator. He is remembered today as both a theoretician of language and as a translator of the Old Testament. The 710-page "Critique du rythme," probably remains his most famous theoretical work. As a translator of the Old Testament he published many volumes, including "Les cinq rouleaux" in 1970 (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther); "Jona et le signifiant errant" in 1998 (Jonah); "Gloires" in 2000 (Psalms); "Au commencement" in 2002 (Genesis); "Les Noms" in 2003 (Exodus); "Et il a appelé" in 2005 (Leviticus); and "Dans le désert" in 2008 (Numbers).