Archivio Storico della Comunità Ebraica di Pisa
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Pisa
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Via Palestro 24, 56127 Pisa
Contact information: phone number
0039 050542580
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
com_ebraicapi@tin.it
Title (English)
Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Pisa
Title (official language of the state)
Archivio Storico della Comunità Ebraica di Pisa
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Comunità Ebraica di Pisa
Date note
16th century/20th century
Language(s)
heb
ita
por
spa
Extent
1,423 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The historical archive of the Jewish community of Pisa is composed of 1,423 units and 4,463 subunits, organised into 47 series, whose individual descriptions can be found on the archive's website. They include the congregation’s by-laws, deliberations of the congregation's bodies (Massari, Consiglio e Commissario Prefetttizio, Giunta, Assemblea Generale, etc.), elections, correspondence, civil and criminal acts, trade records, birth, ketubot and burial records, privileges, accounting and tax records, social aid (Sedaka), and several other documents regarding the daily activity of the congregation and its members. The fonds also includes series of records regarding brotherhoods and other institutions related to the congregation, such as the Hevrà di Talmud Torà, the Nevé Scialom, the Zorkei Metim.
Portuguese and Spanish Jews and their descendants constituted an important part of the Jewish community of Pisa and, for this reason, information on Sephardic individuals and families can be found throughout all this fonds. For instance, the Atti Civili series includes numerous records on some Sephardic merchants operating in Pisa, such as Samuel Lusena and Samuel Calvo de Silva (Registri contabili di mercanti sub-series), and Moisè Baruch Carvaglio and his heirs (Causa Eredi Carvaglio e Nazione Ebrea subseries). The Opere Pia series comprises documents related to pious works instituted by the congregation's members, including some Sephardi Jews, such as Ester Nunes Franco, Raffaele de Paz, Aron Carvaglio, among others. These are only two examples of the several that make this fonds an essential source of information for the study of the Portuguese and Spanish Jews living and operating in Pisa since the 16th century.
Digital copies of some records are available on the archive website, namely: "Registro dei Nati, e Morti, e Ballottati" (Birth and death records and elections, 1749-1803); Hebrew letters from the Carteggio e Atti collection; Criminal acts (1615-1684, 1661-1700, 1705-1849); Benigni Rescritti, 474, containing a list of the ordinances of the Massari from 1567 to 1778 and transcriptions of privileges, including the so-called Livornina of 1593; Benigni Rescritti, 470, including the request of the Jewish community of Pisa to enjoy the same trade privileges given to Livorno; some ketubot; and a Shadday amulet on parchment of Italian production with a Sephardic type inscription.
Portuguese and Spanish Jews and their descendants constituted an important part of the Jewish community of Pisa and, for this reason, information on Sephardic individuals and families can be found throughout all this fonds. For instance, the Atti Civili series includes numerous records on some Sephardic merchants operating in Pisa, such as Samuel Lusena and Samuel Calvo de Silva (Registri contabili di mercanti sub-series), and Moisè Baruch Carvaglio and his heirs (Causa Eredi Carvaglio e Nazione Ebrea subseries). The Opere Pia series comprises documents related to pious works instituted by the congregation's members, including some Sephardi Jews, such as Ester Nunes Franco, Raffaele de Paz, Aron Carvaglio, among others. These are only two examples of the several that make this fonds an essential source of information for the study of the Portuguese and Spanish Jews living and operating in Pisa since the 16th century.
Digital copies of some records are available on the archive website, namely: "Registro dei Nati, e Morti, e Ballottati" (Birth and death records and elections, 1749-1803); Hebrew letters from the Carteggio e Atti collection; Criminal acts (1615-1684, 1661-1700, 1705-1849); Benigni Rescritti, 474, containing a list of the ordinances of the Massari from 1567 to 1778 and transcriptions of privileges, including the so-called Livornina of 1593; Benigni Rescritti, 470, including the request of the Jewish community of Pisa to enjoy the same trade privileges given to Livorno; some ketubot; and a Shadday amulet on parchment of Italian production with a Sephardic type inscription.
Archival history
The archive of the Jewish Community of Pisa has undergone various changes over time. After the short-time period of the Consistory (1808-1814), when the most purely decision-making-administrative part of the Pisan Jewish community was headed by the Concistoro degli Israeliti del Dipartimento del Mediterraneo, headquartered in Livorno and under the direction of the Central Consistory of Paris, there was a return to an autonomous administration managed by the Amministrazione dell'Università Israelitica. Therefore, when the Jewish community commissioned Alfredo Segré to reorganise and catalogue the "Archivio dell'Amministrazione" in 1907, the endeavour would only address the documentation produced after 1815. The oldest documentary part of the Jewish community archive was probably not subject to archival interventions until the mid-20th century.
In 1955, Mario Luzzatto, the director of the Archivio di Stato di Pisa, visited the Jewish community archive, probably to ascertain the state of conservation and accessibility of the documents. From this inspection, Luzzatto wrote a report outlining the history of the community and drawing up a list of the documentary material found in the room in Via Palestro, where the archive was stored. Luzzatto divided these materials into "Archivio proprio" and "Archivi aggregati" by using the string number that many volumes still retain from a lost 19th-century inventory. Luzzatto recommended recovering the old inventory and completing it with the materials that had been incorporated into the collection in the meanwhile. Later, the Jewish community replied that it was necessary to draft a new one, since the old inventory was lost.
The new inventory was completed in 1956, compiled by Pietro Pecchiai and based on the string numbers found on the pieces that dated back to the 19th century organisation. This list is still in use at present. Pecchiai was also the author of a topographical inventory of both the historical documents and the most recent records, which is no longer useful except for identifying items and comparing those that have survived to the present.
Further interventions on the archive were only undertaken in the late 1970s. Then, the materials were divided into archival sections arranged in alphabetical order and placed inside a cabinet. Part of the documents was ordered by following analytical criteria, while another part was arranged in a cabinet of the Sala d'Archivio, awaiting a more precise organisation in the following years.
A new reorganisation of the archive began in the mid-1990s. Then, the historical documentation was separated from the most recent records, and an effort to produce an analytical inventory by using computer support was undertaken. At the beginning of 1999, 600 of the more than 1,000 items that composed the archive were already registered and available for public consultation.
The last reorganisation of the archive began in January 2006, managed by Barbara Martinelli and later by Chiara Giannotti. In 2010, the records placed in the archival rooms and the large number of papers piled up and left behind in the rooms of the synagogue’s women's gallery were rearranged and catalogued. The documents were divided into series and subseries and an inventory was compiled. This inventory is currently available for consultation on the archive website.
In 1955, Mario Luzzatto, the director of the Archivio di Stato di Pisa, visited the Jewish community archive, probably to ascertain the state of conservation and accessibility of the documents. From this inspection, Luzzatto wrote a report outlining the history of the community and drawing up a list of the documentary material found in the room in Via Palestro, where the archive was stored. Luzzatto divided these materials into "Archivio proprio" and "Archivi aggregati" by using the string number that many volumes still retain from a lost 19th-century inventory. Luzzatto recommended recovering the old inventory and completing it with the materials that had been incorporated into the collection in the meanwhile. Later, the Jewish community replied that it was necessary to draft a new one, since the old inventory was lost.
The new inventory was completed in 1956, compiled by Pietro Pecchiai and based on the string numbers found on the pieces that dated back to the 19th century organisation. This list is still in use at present. Pecchiai was also the author of a topographical inventory of both the historical documents and the most recent records, which is no longer useful except for identifying items and comparing those that have survived to the present.
Further interventions on the archive were only undertaken in the late 1970s. Then, the materials were divided into archival sections arranged in alphabetical order and placed inside a cabinet. Part of the documents was ordered by following analytical criteria, while another part was arranged in a cabinet of the Sala d'Archivio, awaiting a more precise organisation in the following years.
A new reorganisation of the archive began in the mid-1990s. Then, the historical documentation was separated from the most recent records, and an effort to produce an analytical inventory by using computer support was undertaken. At the beginning of 1999, 600 of the more than 1,000 items that composed the archive were already registered and available for public consultation.
The last reorganisation of the archive began in January 2006, managed by Barbara Martinelli and later by Chiara Giannotti. In 2010, the records placed in the archival rooms and the large number of papers piled up and left behind in the rooms of the synagogue’s women's gallery were rearranged and catalogued. The documents were divided into series and subseries and an inventory was compiled. This inventory is currently available for consultation on the archive website.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Jewish settlement in Pisa probably dates back to before the 11th century, when a Jewish community was already established in the neighbouring Lucca. By 1165, there were about 20 Jewish families living in Pisa, according to Benjamin of Tudela's record on his trip from Spain to Jerusalem. Since the 13th century, records mention the "Chiasso di Giude" (Jews' Alley) in Pisa. Legislation regarding the separation of the Jews by living in specific areas of the city and wearing distinct badges also impacted the Jewish community of Pisa. Then, Spanish and Provençal Jews had already settled in the city.
In the mid-14th century, measures were taken to encourage Jewish merchants and their families to establish themselves in Pisa, in order to revitalise the city's economy. However, Pisa was politically and economically declining, and such measures did not reach the expected results. In 1406, Pisa fell under the rule of Florence.
In the 15th century, several Jewish families settled in Pisa and started banking enterprises. That was the case of Jehiel b. Mattithiah da Pisa, who founded a loan bank in Pisa. Da Pisa family kept close ties with the Medici family and supported the movement of several exiles from Spain to the city after 1492.
The political and economic instability provoked by the war of 1494-1509 had a negative impact on the Jewish community of Pisa. Jewish bankers were threatened with expulsion, and several members of the community moved to other cities.
In the late 16th century, the so-called “Livorninas” attracted a large community of Jewish merchants to Livorno. These were laws issued in 1591 and 1593 by Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici, which guaranteed the Jewish merchants who wished to move to Pisa or Livorno respect for religious, personal and commercial freedoms. Notwithstanding, the Livorninas did not have the same impact in Pisa as in Livorno. The new congregation of Livorno, which had been separated from that of Pisa, soon outnumbered the latter. Around 1615, the number of Jews living in Pisa was about 500.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Pisan Jews still lived in a ghetto, and their rights were restricted. However, reforms introduced during the time of Grand Duke Francesco I (1737-1765) and that of his successor Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena (1765-1790) had a considerable impact. Pietro Leopoldo promulgated a series of provisions aimed at religious tolerance, including guaranteeing Jews similar rights to those enjoyed by Catholic subjects. Then, some Jewish landowning families of Pisa began to gain access to certain public offices. After the entrance of the French in 1798, Jews earned full citizenship. Later, in 1814, the Restoration abolished the ghetto and acknowledged the congregation's independence. Gradually, the rights of the Jews were extended. However, only after the establishment of the kingdom of Italy did they reach full equality.
In the mid-14th century, measures were taken to encourage Jewish merchants and their families to establish themselves in Pisa, in order to revitalise the city's economy. However, Pisa was politically and economically declining, and such measures did not reach the expected results. In 1406, Pisa fell under the rule of Florence.
In the 15th century, several Jewish families settled in Pisa and started banking enterprises. That was the case of Jehiel b. Mattithiah da Pisa, who founded a loan bank in Pisa. Da Pisa family kept close ties with the Medici family and supported the movement of several exiles from Spain to the city after 1492.
The political and economic instability provoked by the war of 1494-1509 had a negative impact on the Jewish community of Pisa. Jewish bankers were threatened with expulsion, and several members of the community moved to other cities.
In the late 16th century, the so-called “Livorninas” attracted a large community of Jewish merchants to Livorno. These were laws issued in 1591 and 1593 by Grand Duke Ferdinando I de Medici, which guaranteed the Jewish merchants who wished to move to Pisa or Livorno respect for religious, personal and commercial freedoms. Notwithstanding, the Livorninas did not have the same impact in Pisa as in Livorno. The new congregation of Livorno, which had been separated from that of Pisa, soon outnumbered the latter. Around 1615, the number of Jews living in Pisa was about 500.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Pisan Jews still lived in a ghetto, and their rights were restricted. However, reforms introduced during the time of Grand Duke Francesco I (1737-1765) and that of his successor Pietro Leopoldo di Lorena (1765-1790) had a considerable impact. Pietro Leopoldo promulgated a series of provisions aimed at religious tolerance, including guaranteeing Jews similar rights to those enjoyed by Catholic subjects. Then, some Jewish landowning families of Pisa began to gain access to certain public offices. After the entrance of the French in 1798, Jews earned full citizenship. Later, in 1814, the Restoration abolished the ghetto and acknowledged the congregation's independence. Gradually, the rights of the Jews were extended. However, only after the establishment of the kingdom of Italy did they reach full equality.
Sources:
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is divided into 47 series.
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2021
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Archivio Storico della Comunità Ebraica di Pisa | Collections (official language of the state) |