eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and few years later from Portugal, they sought refuge where they could. Large numbers went to Morocco, Holland and the welcoming Ottoman empire. Others ventured further afield, to the Caribbean and the New World and others as far as eastern Europe.
Therefore, when in 1592, Ferdinand I (di Medici), Grand Duke of Tuscany, invited them to settle and freely practice their religion in Pisa and Livorno (Leghorn), many expelled Sephardim eagerly took him up on it. Thus was established the community of Sephardic Livornese Jews. Tuscany under the Medici merchant princes competed with Venice on one side and Genoa on the other, both of which had busy well developed ports, something Tuscany lacked. Ferdinand di Medici’s motivation in inviting the Jews to settle in Livorno was his desire that they develop the small port of Livorno to compete with Venice and Genoa. The Jews of Livorno did so and prospered. Along with Amsterdam, they became one of the major centers of post-expulsion Sephardim. Livorno is therefore an important source for Sephardic genealogy.
The important 1841 census of the Jews of Livorno is now available and searchable online at
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
along with a smaller searchable database of the Jewish charity societies of Livorno Jews at
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
Several important additional databases are in the works and will soon become available on SephardicGen at
http://www.sephardicgen.com
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
http://www.sephardicgen.com/
«Sephardic Genealogy», 2nd ed., Avotaynu, 2009
Website: http://www.SephardicGen.com
Thank you Jeff Malka for the information and for your great job!
