Moshe Yehuda Franco
Moshe Yehuda Franco | |
|---|---|
משה יהודה פרנקו | |
 | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1837 Rhodes, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | December 16, 1917 (aged 79–80) |
| Resting place | Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Sect | Sephardic Judaism |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | Nachman Batito |
| Successor | Haim Moshe Elyashar |
| Position | Rishon LeZion |
Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Franco (Hebrew: משה יהודה פרנקו; 1837 – December 16, 1917) was chief rabbi for the island of Rhodes and the 33rd Rishon LeZion of Israel.
Early life
Franco was born in 1837 on Rhodes[1] to Rabbi Yosef "Kodja" Franco, whom he studied Torah under as a child.[2] His father was one of the sages of the region and involved in its various yeshivas. As a young adult, Franco worked as a peddler and wandered throuhout the villages on the island, eventually opening up a small shop.
Adult years
In 1896, he was appointed chief rabbi of Rhodes,[3][4] and was influential on the island, and was an official involved in community projects at the turn of the 20th century.[5] This was on top of his position as the consul general of France for the island.[6] He abdicated the position in 1911 due to old age, and immigrated to Jerusalem. That year, he was appointed Sephardi chief rabbi of the Land of Israel. He initially didn't want the position, but accepted to avoid mediate between multiple Sephardi factions.[1][7] He also held the title of Hakham Bashi,[8] the chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire.[9]
Henry Morgenthau Sr. visited with Franco during his tenure as Rishon LeZion and noted "His title is the biggest thing about him. He has a little bit of a building in a very much out of the way street and it is not at all impressive."[10]
In February 1915, he authored a letter in the paper Hacheruth, voicing protest against the treatment of the Jewish community by the Ottoman government.[11] He resigned from his post in October of that year.[12][13]
Final years and family
Franco died on December 16, 1917 and was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery.[2]
He was the father of Hizkia Franco, who was married to Sol Alhadeff and oversaw the Jewish community of Smyrna.[14] Franco was also the grandfather of Robert Franco, who worked at the Bank of Salonica in Smyrna and the Smyrna branch of Standard Oil.[15] Robert was also a graduate of the American College at Smyrna and the secretary of the Sephardi community in New York, among involvement with many other philanthropic organizations.[16]
References
- 1 2 Orient. The Society. 1993. p. 105.
- 1 2 Hirshberg Lederman, Amy (2019-03-08). "Searching for family on the Mount of Olives, AZ Jewish Post". Arizona Jewish Post. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
- ↑ The Jewish Encyclopedia: Philipson-Samoscz. Funk and Wagnalls. 1925. p. 401.
- ↑ Laredo, Abraham Isaac (1978). Les noms des Juifs du Maroc: essai d'onomastique judéo-marocaine (in French). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto "B. Arias Montano," 1978. p. 1009. ISBN 978-84-00-04317-9.
- ↑ PhD, Rabbi Marc D. Angel (2011-09-26). Foundations of Sephardic Spirituality: The Inner Life of Jews of the Ottoman Empire. Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-58023-516-7.
- ↑ Kalderon, Albert E. (1983). Abraham Galanté: A Biography. Sepher-Hermon Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-87203-111-1.
- ↑ Usuki, Akira (1960). "THE SEPHARDI COMMUNITY OF JERUSALEM BEFORE WORLD WAR I: A NOTE ON A DOMINANT COMMUNITY ON THE DECLINE". jstage.jst.go.jp. p. 105. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
- ↑ Great Britain Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929; Office, Great Britain Colonial (1930). Palestine Commission on the Disturbances of August, 1929. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 797.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Naor, Mordechay (1998). The Twentieth Century in Eretz Israel: A Pictorial History. Steimatzky. p. 54. ISBN 978-3-89508-595-6.
- ↑ Morgenthau, Henry (1991). Mostly Morgenthaus: A Family History. Ticknor & Fields. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-89919-976-4.
- ↑ Zion (U.S.), Poale (1916). The Jews and the War: Memorandum of the Jewish Socialist Labor Confederation Poale-Zion to the International Socialist Bureau ... Published for the Jewish Socialist Labor Bureau Poale Zion, The Hague...by the Poale Zion Party of America. p. 81.
- ↑ Adler, Cyrus; Szold, Henrietta (1914). American Jewish Year Book. Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 258.
- ↑ Glass, Joseph B.; Kark, Ruth (2007). Sephardi Entrepreneurs in Jerusalem: The Valero Family 1800-1948. Gefen Publishing House Ltd. p. 251. ISBN 978-965-229-396-1.
- ↑ Franco, Hizkia M. (1994). The Jewish Martyrs of Rhodes and Cos. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-1-77904-004-6.
- ↑ Who's who in American Jewry, 1926-. Jewish biographical bureau, Incorporated. 1927. p. 167.
- ↑ "Eastern Sephardim in New York Need Big Brother, Says Franco". The American Hebrew. American Hebrew Publishing Company. 1927. p. 478.