Pallache family
Pallache, also de Palacio, Palache, Palaçi, Palachi, Palatsi, Palacci, Palaggi, al-Fallashi, and many other variations, is a prominent, Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jewish family from the Iberian Peninsula, who spread mostly through the Mediterranean after the Alhambra Decree of March 31, 1492, and related events.
The Pallaches established themselves in cities in Morocco, the Netherlands, Turkey, Egypt, and other countries from the 1500s through the 1900s. The family includes Chief Rabbis, rabbis, founders of synagogues and batei midrash, scientists, entrepreneurs, writers, and others. Best known are Moroccan envoys and brothers Samuel Pallache and Joseph Pallache, at least three grand rabbis of Izmir – Gaon. Haim Palachi, his sons Abraham Palacci and Rahamim Nissim Palacci, grand rabbi of Amsterdam Isaac Juda Palache, American mineralogist Charles Palache, and Dutch linguist Juda Lion Palache.
History
Inquisitions and expulsions
According to historians Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers, "The Pallaches were a family of Hispanic Jews who settled in Fez after the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492."In 1480, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon established a Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition. Its dual purpose was to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in Spain while replacing the Medieval Inquisition under papal control. On March 31, 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand issued the Alhambra Decree, thereby ordering the expulsion of practicing Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, its territories, and it possessions by July 31 that year–in four months. Jews who had converted to Christianity were safe from expulsion. Some 200,000 Jews converted; between 40,000 and 100,000 fled from the kingdoms.
On December 5, 1496, King Manuel I of Portugal decreed that all Jews must convert to Catholicism or leave the country. Jews who converted to Christianity were known as New Christians. This initial edict of expulsion turned into an edict of forced conversion by 1497. In 1506, the Lisbon Massacre erupted. In 1535, Portugal launched its own inquisition. Portuguese Jews fled to the Ottoman Empire, and the classical economist David Ricardo. As Portugal was under control of the Philippine Dynasty of the House of Habsburg, the Portuguese Inquisition blended with the Spanish.
The combined Spanish-Portuguese inquisitions caused one of the largest diasporas in Jewish history.
Iberia
According to Professor Mercedes García-Arenal, the Pallaches were "a Sephardi family perhaps descended from the Bene Palyāj mentioned by the twelfth-century chronicler Abraham ibn Daud as 'the greatest of the families of Córdoba'".According to Professor Reginald Aldworth Daly, the Pallaches were "persecuted Sephardim Jews of Portugal who were exiled to Holland".
According to Professor Giovanna Fiume, "The Pallache family also emigrated to the Netherlands, perhaps from Portugal or Spain, or, second, another hypothesizes, they emigrated from their native Spain to Fez."
José Maria Abecassis cites historian Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo, who wrote:
Morocco
The Jewish presence in Morocco goes back to Carthage, fared moderately, and often prospered under Muslim rule. From Morocco, they filtered into Al-Andalus but began to return during the Spanish Reconquista, which mounted in the 10th century. The Spanish-Portuguese expulsions and inquisitions sent Jews back to Morocco on a larger scale. Resultant overcrowding in Moroccan cities led to tension, fires, and famines in Jewish quarters.Moïse Al Palas , born in Marrakesh, was a rabbi who moved to Tetuán and lived for a time in Salonica, then in the Ottoman Empire. Before dying in Venice, he published Va-Yakhel Moshe and Ho'il Moshe, and an autobiography.
Isaac Pallache was a rabbi in Fez, Morocco, first mentioned in takkanot in 1588. His sons were Samuel Pallache and Joseph Pallache. Isaac was married to a sister of Fez's grand rabbi, Judah Uziel; his nephew Isaac Uziel became a rabbi of the Neve Shalom community in Amsterdam.
Netherlands
Jews began to settle in the Netherlands at the end of the 16th century. Thanks to its independence from Spanish control in 1581, the Dutch Republic attracted Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands as a refuge from a common enemy, Spain.After an unsuccessful attempt to return to Spain in the mid-1600s, Samuel and Joseph Pallache settled a new branch of the Pallache family in the Netherlands by 1608. There, they represented their benefactor, Zidan al-Nasir of Morocco, as well as the Dutch government, in complex negotiations with Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, France, England, the Ottoman Empire, and other European states – often on behalf of more than one sponsoring state and on their own behalf.
The sons of both brothers continued in their fathers's footsteps, some remaining in the Netherlands, others returning to Morocco.
In the Netherlands, the surname solidified as "Palache", and the family continues as Palache in the Netherlands to the present. Prominent members have included grand rabbi Isaac Juda Palache and his son, Professor Juda Lion Palache.
The Pallache brothers and their sons did not marry members of the Portuguese Sephardic community in the Netherlands. "It seems significant that no male member of the Pallache family ever married a woman from the Portuguese community... it is surely significant that neither Samuel nor any of his heirs were ever to marry into the great trading families of 'the Portuguese nation'." In September 2016, however, two 1643 marriage certificates were discovered for David Pallache and Judith Lindo of Antwerp, daughter of Ester Lindo Death details for David Pallache also confirm the marriage. Further, three years later, in 1646, Samuel Pallache, son of Isaac Joseph Pallache and nephew of David Joseph Pallache, married Abigail, sister of Judith Lindo.
Turkey
The first reported Pallache in Turkey dates to 1695, when Isaac Pallache of Leghorn wrote a letter to the Dutch consul in SmyrnaThe Pallache appear in Izmir no later than the time of rabbi Jacob Pallache, who married the daughter of a grand rabbi Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan. Jacob's son became grand rabbi Haim Palachi, two of whose sons, Abraham and Isaac, or Rahamim Nissim, also became grand rabbis there.
According to the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World: In 1863, a London-based Jewish newspaper noted "the chief rabbi of Smyrna, Palacci, a venerable, octogenarian, seems to command universal respect by his truly patriarchal appearance, his countenance reflected the gentleness of his heart." In 1868, Die Deborah reported a gather of four rabbis who unanimously supported the wish of the late Abraham Palacci that his son be appointed in his place. In 1872, the Bulletin de l'Alliance Israélite Universelle reported on a "real famine" for which relief was sent to Chief Rabbi Palacci to distribute. In early 1873, the name of Haim Nissim Palacci appears as treasurer in Smyrna of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In mid-1873, the Universal Israelitish Alliance of Paris and the Anglo-Jewish Association of London agreed to establish a school for Jewish boys and girls in Smyrna under the guidance of Dr. Palacci, Chief Rabbi of Smyrna. In 1891, a newspaper reported the a "good likeness" of chief rabbi Abraham Palacci was on its way from Smyrna to Istanbul as part of books sent there. In 1893, a newspaper reported that the importance of a grand rabbi Palacci, aided by his son Nissim Palacci.
The Pallache continued in Turkey past the 1922 great fire of Smyrna; some left during Allied evacuation during World War II and were murdered during the Holocaust.
Egypt
No later than the close of the 19th century, a branch of the Pallache family had settled in Egypt, with some remaining in Cairo into the 1950s.Which members of the family had what foreign citizenship is as yet undetermined, e.g., Spanish under the Decree-Law of 29 December 1948. Neither "Palacci" nor variations on the surname appear in either the Egyptian or Greek lists.
Palacci department store
In 1897, Palacci brothers Vita, Henri, and family established the Palacci department store. In 1904, the company's name was Palacci Menasce et Fils. Shortly thereafter, it had become Palacci Fils, Haim et Cie, located on Muski street near the old Opera House. By 1907, Vita Palacci had become head of the store. Also in 1907, newspapers mentions "Mr. Vita Pallacci, the distinguished chief of the house of Palacci Pils, Halm and Co., which is well known in Europe and America" as president of the "Ahemia Society," and again in 1908 By 1909, the Palacci had partnered with A. Hayam, and the store employed 20 office clerks and more than 100–120 sales staff. In 1910, "Albert Palacci & Co." appears as a Cairo firm interested in trading in silk. At an unclear date, "Palacci, Menasce & Co." are recorded as having stores in Cairo, Tanta, and Mansoura.In 1916, "Palacci, Fils, Haym, and Co." were listed among "persons who have been granted licenses to trade in Egypt, with the British Empire, and with Allies of Great Britain". The same year, "Palacci Fil, Haim & Co." filed a suit against "Mohamed Moh. Sélim".
When Vita died in 1917, his oldest son Albert Vita Palacci succeeded as manager. The store had offices overseas in Paris to purchase draperies and hardware, while its Cairo offices exported household essentials and perfumes. By the mid-1920s, Palacci had branches on Fuad Street and in Heliopolis.
In 1925, the Palacci partook in a "Gran Corso Carnivalesque" in Cairo, organized by the International Union of Commercial Establishment Employees of Cairo, along with 24 other grand department stores, including: Cicurel,Bon Marché, Mawardi, Salamander, and Paul Favre. Other department stores of that time included: Chemla Frères, Orosdi-Back, Sednaoui, Hannaux, Chalons, Ades, Gattegno, Madkur, Ahmad, Yusuf Gamal, Benzion, Morum's, Stein's, Raff's, Robert Hughes, Mayer, Tiring. The history Maadi: 1904–1962 lists the following Jewish families around the Adly synagogue including: Rasson, Romano, Gold, Kabili, Rofe, Mizrahi, Chalem, Calderon, Agami, setton, Simhon, Sofeir. It also lists those Jewish families close by, including: Harris, Risolevi, Hettena, Sullam, Ades, Watoury, Palacci, Curiel, Basri, Farhi, Hazan, and Hazan. The history Egypt: The Lost Homeland lists the following Jewish families in Cairo who "were considered Austrian and enjoyed the protection of the Austrian embassy, event though they were not Austrian citizens": Adda, Benarojo, Belilios, Cattaui, Forte, Goldstein, Heffez, Ismalun, Mondolfo, Pallaci, Picciotto, Rossano, and Romano.
In the 1920s, the store advertised in newspapers, e.g., "Visitez Palacci, Haym & Co. – Mousky – Rabais considérables dans tous les comptoirs. Profitez !". In 1923, the advertising changed to "Demandez à Palacci, Haym & Co., leurs conditions de Vente à crédit avec facilités de paiement. Prix défiant toute concurrence.". In 1924, it changed for the year to "Vente à crédit chez Palacci, Haym & Co. Facilité de paiements" In 1926, advertising changed to "Chez Palacci, Haym & Co. Mousky. Vente à crédit. Facilités de Paiement. Mêmes prix qu’au comptant". By November 1926, advertisements added a new location in Heliopolis in its next advertisement, "À crédit. Faites vos achats chez Chez Palacci, Haym & Co. Mousky-Heliopolis. Vente à crédit. Facilités de paiement. Mêmes prix qu’au comptant". In 1927, its new advertisement claimed that it had become a grand magasin, targeting newlyweds: "Grands Magasins de Nouveautés. Palacci, Haym & Co. Mousky. Heliopolis. Avant de garnir votre Appartement, visitez notre salon de Mobilier. Vente à crédit – Facilités de Paiement". In mid-1927, the advertisement tried "Actuellement – chez Palacci, Haym & Co., Mousky. Exposition d’articles de voyage et de bains de mer à prix très avantageux. Visitez-nous". Its next ad campaign was "Grande Maison de Nouveautés. Palacci, Haym & Co., Mousky – Héliopolis. Les plus vastes magasins spécialisés dans la vente des Meubles. Prix hors Concurrence – Facilités de Paiement". By late 1927, it had begun to advertise not just seasonally or special occasions like weddings and "back to school" but also for specific items like Tapis,Lits en cuivre, and Chemises, Cravates, Faux-Cols. In September 1928, it began to advertise only as "Palacci" and dropped Heliopolis as its second location but restored a more French version "Palacci Haym & Cie" as well as the second store in Heliopolis in the first quarter of 1929, reverting again to "Palacci Haym & Co." In 1930, Palacci added mention of its catalog, by which times its ads began to place on pages 5, 6 and even 9 of newspapers while settling largely on "Palacci" again on pages 3 and finished 1930 and starting 1931 on page 2. In 1932, Palacci first used an image with its ads, which faces on furniture and beds.
In 1933, the family of Mahmoud Abel Bak El Bitar had a lawsuit against "Pallaci, Haym & Co." By 1935, the Palacci department store had experienced financial difficulties.
In August 1937, the original department store of les "Grand Magasins" Palacci, Haym & Co. on Mouski Street burned; the family did not rebuild. L’Aurore newspaper of Cairo reported:
Tous les amis, tous les clients de MM. Palacci Haym & Co. ont appris avec un regret infini l’incendie de leurs grand Magasins du Mousky jeudi soir dernier. On a lu dans la presse quotidienne les détails de ce sinistre et il n’y reviendront pas. Qu’il nous suffise de dire ici que c’est avec une amicale émotion et une sincère sympathie que nous avons appris la dure épreuve subie par nos excellent amis et coreligionnaires Albert Palacci et Albert Haym dont le dévouement et la labeur inlassable pendant plus de trente années dans ce coin du Mousky à la tête de leur Maison sont connus de tous si avantageusement. Nous leur formulons à nouveau nos sincères regrets et leur adressons nos vœux les meilleurs. Messieurs Palacci, Haym et Co., adressent leurs vifs remerciements à tous leurs amis, fournisseurs, et clients, pour la grande amitié et la sympathie qui leur furent témoignées à la suite de la dure épreuve qu’ils viennent de subir. Ils informent leurs clientèle, Messieurs les Commissionnaires, et leurs fournisseurs qu’ils ont établi un Bureau provisoire dans l’immeuble Liepmann, au-dessus de la poste Hamzaoui. Toute correspondance doit être adressée comme jusqu’ici B.P. 371, Le Caire.
All the friends, all the clients of MM. Palacci Haym & Co. learned with infinite regret of the fire in their Mousky department store last Thursday evening. We read the details of this incident in the daily press and will not come back to it. Suffice it to say here that it is with friendly emotion and sincere sympathy that we learned of the hard ordeal endured by our excellent friends and co-religionists Albert Palacci and Albert Haym, whose dedication and tireless work for more than thirty years in this corner of Mousky at the head of their House are known to all so advantageously. We reiterate our sincere regrets to them and send them our best wishes. Mrs. Palacci, Haym and Co., extend their sincere thanks to all their friends, suppliers and customers for the great friendship and sympathy shown to them following the hard ordeal they have just suffered. They inform their customers, the Commissionaires, and their suppliers that they have established a provisional office in the Liepmann building, above the Hamzaoui post office. All correspondence should be addressed to P.O. Box 371, Cairo.
– Advertisements for the Palacci department store vanish from newspapers.
lang\|fr|"Faites vos achats chez Elie Palacci, dépôts de denrées alimentaires. 13, Boulevard Saïd 1er. Téléphone 254-17"
Ahemia Society
As community leaders, the Palacci supported Jewish causes inside and outside Egypt. In 1907, Vita Palacci was serving as president of la société de bienfaisence a "Hachemia" :During 1916–1917, "Palacci Fils, Haym & Co." was one of numerous donors in Egypt to the "Yeshibat Erez Israel for the Refugee Rabbis from the Holy Land, established by the Alexandrian Rabbinate." From 1 Year 5676 through Sivan 5677, this group collected 120,427.5 PT, routed to its treasurer, E. Anzurat and published its third financial report. Donors were from Alexandria, Cairo, "suburbs," England, Australia, Canada, S. Africa, India, France, and the USA. The local collector in Cairo was Rabbi Haim Mendelof. The Palacci donated 500 PT, as did Maurice Calamari, I.M. Cattaui & Fils, Le Fils de M. Cicurel, Jaques & Elie Green.
Cairo residences
The Pallache family settled around the main home of Vita Palacci, a villa at No. 23 Ahmed Basha Street in Garden City, Cairo. Two of Vita Palacci's grandchildren, siblings Eddy and Colette, have written memoirs of their childhoods in Cairo, which document Sephardic Jewish life in Cairo in the 1930s, including traditions, use of Ladino, and food recipes.Alexandria
Pallache also settled in Alexandria. "Mordahai Palacci-Miram was likewise a Sephardi but from Constantinople, when he married Rosa Alterman, an Ashkenazi of German origin. Several of their children were born in Constantinople... but to escape an outbreak of plague came to Alexandria..." A "Ventura Palacci-Miram" is also mentioned.Congo venture: La Coupole
After World War I, participation of the Force Publique in the East African campaign resulted in a League of Nations mandate over the previously German colony of Ruanda-Urundi to Belgium as Belgian Congo.In the mid-1940s, Henri Palacci, son of Menahem, son of Aaron Palacci, founded "La Coupole" store in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as documented here:
Other countries
The Pallache had established themselves in Jamaica by the 19th century in the sugar trade. In 1825, the London Gazette posted notice of a partnership that included Mordecai Palache and Alexander Palache "of Kingston, in the Island of Jamaica." A "Charles, son of Mordechai Palache" is recorded in 1847. Numerous people named Palache continued to appear. Most prominent among them was the Honorable John Thomson Palache.By 1855, a "Vita Palacci" appears in Argentina.
In 1911, Camille Palacci, daughter of the late Aaron Palacci of Cairo, married Benjamin Bigio in a synagogue on Mauldeth Road in Manchester, United Kingdom.
21st century
Continued expulsions and diaspora have dispersed the Pallache family to many countries in the Americas, Europe, and farther afield.By the 20th century, the Pallache had established itself within the United States. The family of noted American mineralogist Charles Palache came to California from Jamaica. His descendants includeJudith Palache Gregory, a writer, counselor, educator, and permaculturalist.
Numerous Palacci came to the United States in diaspora from Turkey and Egypt, including Colette Rossant.
Synagogues
Netherlands
Samuel Pallache may have helped found the first synagogue in Amsterdam. As early as his 1769 Memorias do Estabelecimento e Progresso dos Judeos Portuguezes e Espanhoes nesta Famosa Cidade de Amsterdam, David Franco Mendes records a first minyan in Amsterdam with sixteen worshippers, including Samuel and Joseph Pallache. Other sources go further to claim that this first minyan occurred in Palache's home, as they were dignitaries and occurred around 1590 or Yom Kippur 1596. However, in their book A Man of Three Worlds' on Samuel Pallache, Professors García-Arenal and Gerard A. Wiegers point out that the Pallache brothers arrived in Amsterdam in the first decade of the following century.Turkey
Around 1840, the Pallache home in Smyrna became today's Beth Hillel Synagogue and seat of a yeshiva or beit madras. The synagogue lies in the Kemeraltı marketplace district in Izmir and is named after Haim or Abraham Palacci. Professor Stanford J. Shaw stated it was Haim who founded the Beth Hillel Palacci or his son Abraham. According to Jewish Izmir Heritage, "In the 19th century, Rabbi Avraham Palache founded in his home a synagogue named Beit Hillel, after the philanthropist from Bucharest who supported the publication of Rabbi Palache's books. However, the name 'Avraham Palache Synagogue' was also used by the community." This synagogue forms a cluster of eight extant, all adjacent... Izmir is the only city in the world in which an unusual cluster of synagogues bearing a typical medieval Spanish architectural style is preserved... creating an historical architectural complex unique in the world." The Zalman Shazar Center also refers to Beit Hillel synagogue as "Avraham Palaggi's synagogue" but then states that "the synagogue was founded by Palaggi Family in 1840" and that Rav Avraham Palaggi "used" it. "The building had been used as a synagogue and a Beit Midrash. The synagogue has not been used since 1960's." It concludes, "The synagogue was founded by the Palaggi family and is therefore very important."Egypt
The Palaccis were one of many families that helped maintain the Sephardic Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue (Cairo) on Adly Street in downtown Cairo.Yeshivas
Turkey
Journey into Jewish Heritage states that Haim Palacci founded the Beit Hillel Yeshiva in Izmir in the middle of the 19th century. Current sources are unclear, but it is likely the same as the Beit Midrash mentioned above.Israel
A seminary was named in Haim Palachi's honor in Bnei Brak, Israel.Writings
- Haim Palachi – of 82 publications, 36 are listed under: Haim Palachi
- Many other rabbinical works by other Palache rabbis, including: Abraham Palacci, Rahamim Nissim Palacci, and Joseph Palacci
- Colette (Palacci) Rossant: Apricots on the Nile
- Eddy Palacci: ''Des étoiles par cœur''
Documented spellings of surname
As the Pallache settled in new cities with new languages, spellings of the surname changed. Sometimes, the families themselves voluntarily changed their surnames while at other times changes occurred via officialdom. In the 20th century, Turkish officials forced all nationals to adopt surnames under the 1934 Surname Law.Variations on the Pallache name appear on both Spanish and Portuguese lists of Sephardic names. For instance, "Palacci" is listed as Spanish Sephardic, while "Pallache" is listed as Portuguese Sephardic.
Samuel Pallache's name appeared in several forms–including variations that he himself used. A German Vierteljarhschrift mentions both "Duarte de Palacios" and "Duarte Palache" when referring to the same person, thus making direct equation between the names "de Palacios" and "Palache."
Documented names include:
- Pallache'
- Palache
- Palacio
- Pallacío
- de Palacios and Palacios
- Palacio
- Palatio
- Palachio
- Palazzo."
- de Palatio
- al-Palas
- Pallas
- Palaggi
- Balyash
- Palatsi
- Palacci
- Palate,
- Palatie,
- Paliache
- Palachi as in "Haim Palachi" or "Hayim Palachi"
- Paligi
- Palagi
- Palatchi
- Bene Palyāj
- Palyaji
- Ibn Falija
- Falaji
- Palaji
- Faleseu
- Palachy
- Palaci
- Payache
- Payaxe
- Payachia
- Pallachi
- Pelache
- Palatchie