Samson of Chinon

Samson ben Isaac of Chinon ( – ) (Hebrew: שמשון מקינון) was a French Talmudist who lived at Chinon. In Talmudic literature he is generally called after his native place, Chinon (Hebr. קינון), and sometimes by the abbreviation MaHaRShaḲ. He was a contemporary of Peretz Kohen Gerondi, who declared Samson to be the greatest rabbinical authority of his time. The name of his brother was Matatia. and Solomon ben Adret. According to Heinrich Gross, Samson was the author of the supercommentary on Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch found by Judah Mosconi at Perpignan between 1363 and 1375 (Halberstam MS.). As regards the word (ממרשילאה = "of Marseille"), which appears in the manuscript after the name Samson of Chinon, Gross believes that Samson settled at Marseille after the banishment of the Jews from France.