Fondo Archivio storico della Comunità ebraica di Ferrara
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Jewish Community of Ferrara
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Via G. Mazzini 9, 44121 Ferrara
Contact information: phone number
0039 05 32247004
0039 05 32247004
0039 05 32247004
Reference number
Archivio della Comunità Ebraica di Ferrara (ACEF)
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Ferrara
Title (official language of the state)
Fondo Archivio storico della Comunità ebraica di Ferrara
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Comunità ebraica di Ferrara
Date(s)
1635/1997
Language(s)
heb
ita
lat
Extent
408 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
After the dispersion and destruction of the oldest part of this collection in 1944, during World War II, only a few documents relating to the Early Modern period survived. They included, in particular, some accounting records dating back to 1635 (reg. 26). An administrative register of the Scuola spagnola levantina (Spanish Levantine School) and the Spanish synagogue, although from a late date (1882-1883, reg. 1), gives an important contribution to knowing the history of the Sephardic group of the Ferrara community.
Archival history
The centuries-old history of the Jewish community of Ferrara has produced an archive, the oldest part of which, unfortunately, was destroyed and dispersed after the looting suffered in 1944. In particular, documents from the Early Modern period were almost completely destroyed. The memory of the documentary materials preserved there before 1944 is provided by the confiscation report compiled in that year, following the legislative decree of the Italian Social Republic of January 4, 1944, which ordered the general confiscation of all Jewish assets. It is specifically known that the following series indicated in the 1944 report were lost: “Libro del ghetto from S. Michele 1642 to S. Michele 1643”; “Filze massari del ghetto”; “Sussidiati 1765-1779”; and “Istrumenti e atti autentici 1719-1748”.
Administrative / Biographical history
The history of the Jewish community of Ferrara dates back to the Roman era. The period of greatest development was undoubtedly during the Este lordship, which ended in 1471. During the subsequent dominion of the Este under the bond of papal vassalage (1471-1598), the first group of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain arrived and integrated the community. Subsequently, Sephardic Jews from the Kingdom of Naples also moved to Ferrara and became part of this community. In the mid-16th century, there were ten synagogues in Ferrara. The harshest period for the Jewish community occurred after the transference of the city to the Papal State in 1598, with the establishment of the ghetto. Only in 1848, during the pontificate of Pius IX, the doors of the ghetto were definitively demolished. However, the emancipation of the Jews only took place after the establishment of the united kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Existence and location of copies
Andrea Cicerchia, 2022
Bibliography
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Comunità ebraica di Ferrara | Collections (official language of the state) |