Abraham Furtado Archive
Item
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Country
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IL
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Name of institution (English)
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The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
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Language of name of institution
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heb
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Contact information: postal address
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Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91010
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Contact information: phone number
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00972 2-6586249
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Contact information: email
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cahjp@nli.org.il
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Reference number
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P195
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Type of reference number
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Call number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Abraham Furtado Archive
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Abraham Furtado
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Date note
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bulk: 18th century/19th century
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Language(s)
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fra
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Extent
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7 cards
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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This collection comprises materials regarding and produced by Abraham Furtado, one of the main leaders of the French Sephardic community in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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Abraham Furtado was born in London, in 1756, to a Portuguese New Christian family. Furtado's parents were in Lisbon on the occasion of the Great Earthquake of 1755. After this catastrophe, his mother moved to London. In 1757, she went to Bayonne and later to Bordeaux, where Abraham Furtado was educated.
Furtado was a trader and a property investor. Later, he began his career as a politician as well. In 1789, he participated in a commission of Jews to propose measures to improve the conditions of the community.
In 1806, Furtado was among the one hundred Jewish leaders who were summoned by Napoleon to Paris for consultation. He was then elected president of the representative body known as Assemblée des Notables (Assembly of Notables).
When Napoleon was overthrown in 1814, Furtado joined the royalists but refused a political position during the Hundred Days. In 1815, he was appointed treasurer of the city of Bordeaux by Louis XVIII and held this position until his sudden death in the following year.
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(source: Jewish Encyclopedia)
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Author of the description
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Joana Rodrigues, 2023
