ר׳ מאיר בן שמואל מרמרו

ר׳ מאיר בן שמואל מרמרו (c.1060–after 1135), sometimes called ר״מ, was among the earliest Tosafists of northern France. Born in or associated from youth with Ramerupt, he studied in the Lorraine academies under ר׳ יצחק בן אשר הלוי and ר׳ אלעזר בן יצחק of Mainz and corresponded with them. He also learned from רש״י and married רש״י’s daughter Yocheved. The couple lived for a period near רש״י in Troyes before returning to Ramerupt, where ר׳ מאיר founded a study house. Their sons—ר׳ שמואל בן מאיר (Rashbam), ר׳ יצחק בן מאיר (Rivam), and ר׳ יעקב בן מאיר (Rabbeinu Tam)—became central architects of the Tosafist school. ר׳ מאיר wrote Talmudic explanations related in method to those of רש״י and Rashbam; fragments and citations were absorbed into later commentaries and Tosafot rather than preserved as a securely datable independent book. His rulings, including a proposed correction to the wording of Kol Nidrei, survive chiefly through citations by his sons and later authorities. No authenticated contemporary portrait is known.