Jewish Genealogy in Italy

Pitigliano  - The little Jerusalem

Pitigliano, at the southernmost border of Tuscany, is geographically closer to Rome than to Florence. Ruled until 1608 by the Counts Orsini, it was the first safe, welcoming stop for Jews who were fleeing the Papal States following after the decree of 1555, decree that forced the Jews of the Papal States into the ghettos in Rome and Ancona. It also became a destination for Tuscan Jews when the ghettos were established in Florence and Siena around 1570.
This country town was for some years a "land of refuge" where Jews could live in peace. A peace that carne to an end in 1608, when the Orsini family ceded Pitigliano the to Medici family in exchange for Monte San Savino.

As a result, in 1622 the Jews of Pitigliano were forced into the ghetto and were required to wear distinctive badge (a red hat for men and a red sign on the sleeve for women). The jewish community fought against these discriminatory practices which were completely new to them: between 1635 and 1747 individual Jews asked to be exonerated by the authorities. The community was often taxed to provide loans for the construction of special works. Pitigliano, like all of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, became part of the Lorraine family dominion in 1738. In 1799 the Jews of Pitigliano celebrated the arrival of Napoleon's troops. The gangs of "Viva Maria" reached with the sackings of the ghetto and arests. The phenomenon of urban migration was very strong anong the Jews of Pitigliano, who left the town to move to Florence, specially when Firenze became the capital of Italy. It only look a few years for the community to nearly cease to exist (see the table below). The memory of its past, however, did not disappear.

Pitigliano

Resources of the 19th  century:
List of records that can be found for the Jews of Pitigliano:

Jewish Cemetery. The old pictoresque Jewish cemetery is located at the base of the rock. The cemetery part carved in the tufa stone has been recently restaurated. Please contact for information on the tomb-stones.

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.
- 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 Pitigliano :
Most frequent surnames found in documents of the 18th-19th centuries:
Ayò, Barroccia, Bechini, Bemporad, Cabibbe, Camerino, Capua, Coen, Colombo, Console, Dina, Funaro, Gallichi
Lates, Lates, Levi, Montefiore, Moscati, Moscato, Nepi, Nissin, Orvieti, Pace, Paggi, Pergola, Piazza
Sadun, Servi, Servo Servi, Sicchi, Sonnino, Sorani, Sorani, Sorani, Spizzichino, Tedeschi, Urbino, Ventura, Vitali

© Isetta Masliouk and Nardo Bonomi