R. Hanania Elhanan Coen (1751–1834), Italian rabbi, scholar, and author was born in Reggio Emilia, he studied under the greatest Italian rabbis of his day. Coen taught and served as rabbi in several communities until 1825 when he became rabbi of Florence, a post he held until his death. He wrote extensively, and his work included poetry, linguistic and biblical studies, and textbooks. His two books on the Hebrew poetry of his time, Zemirot Yisrael ("Songs of Israel," Leghorn, 1793) and Ru'ah Hadashah ("A New Spirit," Reggio, 1822) were among the first works written on this subject.