Jewish Genealogy in Italy

Pisa

The settlement of Jews in Pisa dates back to very early times. The first written document is a contract given in 850 that registered a Jewish home-owner. Benjamin of Tudela during his "itinerary" visited Pisa around 1165 and found a community of twenty families. Evidence reveals Jewish tombstones embedded in the town wall, dating back to the mid-1200's. The statutes of the republic required Jews to wear distinguishing badges. In those times it is known that Jews lived in a classus iudeorum (alleyway of the Jews). At the beginning of the 1300s the Jewish community increased in size with the arrival of Jews from Spain and Provence who had been expelled following the black plague (1348) for which they were blamed. During the 1400s, Jews also arrived from Rome. Among these was the "da Sinagoga" family whose surname was later changed to "Da Pisa".
In the 15th century, numerous Jewish families came to Pisa to start banking enterprises. Vitale (Jehiel) b. Matassia opened a bank; his family "Da Pisa" became famous for banking and for mecenatism. Thanks to their help, exiles from Spain arrived to Pisa in 1492. Pisa become subject to the Medici family who permitted the settlement of Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal.In the 15th century, numerous Jewish families came to Pisa to start banking enterprises. Vitale (Jehiel) b. Matassia opened a bank; his family "Da Pisa" became famous for banking and for mecenatism. Thanks to their help, exiles from Spain arrived to Pisa in 1492. The da Pisa's synagogue was still operating in 1570 when Cosimo I decreed that Tuscan Jews would have to be enclosed into the ghettos of Florence and Siena. This restriction had limited impact on the Jews of Pisa, most of whom were Levantine and therefore exempted In 1593 the Jewish Community of Pisa was granted the privilege of naturalizing foreign Jews. . In 1594 the synagogue was moved to the its current location in via Palestro

Number of the Jews in Pisa:

Year Jews in Pisa 1643 310 1770 247 ? 1871 662 1938 770 1972 200

Record Repositories:

- Jewish Community of Pisa
Address: Via Palestro, 24
56127 Pisa (PI)

-  State Archive of Pisa
Address: Archivio di Stato di Pisa
Lungarno Mediceo 30 56100 Pisa
Tel: 050/542698
Email: as-pi@beniculturali.it

- Pisa Town Archive
Address: Archivio Storico del Comune di Pisa - Via Bellatalla 1, Ospedaletto, Pisa

Resources from the 17th to the 19th  century:
List of records that can be found for the Jews of Pisa:

- Jewish Cemeteries. . Please contact     for further information.
     

Bibliography:
- Annie Sacerdoti, Guida al'Italia Ebraica, Marietti, Genova: 1986, English transl.  by Richard F. De Lossa, Guide to Jewish Italy, Israelowitz Publishing, Brooklyn NY: 1989.
- Regione Toscana, Luoghi ebraici in Toscana - Jewish Tours in Tuscany, Firenze 2004.
- Dora Liscia Bemporad and Anna Marcela Tedeschi Falco, Tuscany Jewish Itineraries: Place, History and Art. Marsilio 1997.
- Roberto G. Salvadori, Breve storia degli ebrei toscani, Le Lettere, Firenze 1995.

Surnames of the Jews of Pisa:
Most frequent surnames found in documents of the 17th-18th centuries:
Abinun, Albarenga, Alpelingo, Alvarenga, Amadio, Babli, Benedetti, Bensusan, Beruhino, Bueno, Calvo, Camerino, Castro, Chiames, Coen, Coen Castelano, Coronello, Cugna, De Leone, De Pax, De Rios, Di Castro, Ergas, Falconi, Fare, Ferera, Fonseca, Franco, Gabai, Gatenho, Gutier, Israel, Jesurun,
Lamora, Lecina, Leonte, Leucci, Leuchie, Leucina, Levi, Liuchie, Lucena, Lucena, Machora, Marache, Miranda, Mochata, Montefiori, Montezinos, Moreno, Napolitano, Navarro, Pas, Pegna, Pereira, Polidi, Porto, Prignano, Rodrigues,
Saccuto, Sadich, Sadique, Sampai, Sedicario, Segobbia, Sora, Suares, Sudefina, Sulema, Surana, Tedeschi, Vero, Veroli, Vieri, Vitali, Zabela, Zaquto Silvera
© Isetta Masliouk e Nardo Bonomi