Jewish Izmir produced rabbis, writers, musicians and benefactors whose work reached far beyond the city. These short introductions offer a first route into that wider history.
Rabbis and scholars
Rabbi Joseph Escapa (1570-1662). Chief rabbi who organised communal life in Izmir from 1620 and led the Shalom Synagogue. He taught the young Sabbatai Zvi and later took the lead in expelling him from the city.
Rabbi Hayim Benveniste (1603-1673). A major Sephardi codifier, author of Keneset ha-Gedolah, who succeeded Escapa as chief rabbi of Izmir.
Rabbi Aaron Lapapa (1604?-1667). A rabbi and halakhic authority in Izmir who openly opposed Sabbatai Zvi.
Rabbi Hayim Palachi (1788-1869). One of the most influential rabbis of nineteenth-century Izmir, appointed chief rabbi in 1852 and honoured by Sultan Abdülmecid. He wrote seventy-two books, all carrying the word hayim in their titles, and helped establish a Jewish hospital with the support of the Rothschild family and Sir Moses Montefiore.
Rabbi Abraham Palachi (1809-1899). Son of Hayim Palachi and a distinguished scholar, appointed chief rabbi of Izmir in 1870 after a public campaign on his behalf. He served for nearly thirty years and wrote widely in Hebrew and Ladino.
Writers and scholars of the community
Aaron de Yosef Hazan (1848-1931). Journalist and writer, founder of the newspaper La Buena Esperanza, one of the oldest Ladino papers of Izmir. He taught for fifty years and wrote what is often called the first novel in Judeo-Spanish.
Abraham Galante (1873-1961). Historian and politician, professor at Istanbul University and a scholar of the Jewish history of Turkey, author of Histoire des Juifs d’Anatolie.
Music
Isaac Algazi (1889-1950). Cantor of the Algazi Synagogue and one of the major composers of religious, secular and classical Turkish music of his time. He performed for Atatürk at Dolmabahçe Palace before leaving Turkey in 1933.
Dario Moreno (1921-1968). Singer and actor, born David Arugete Moreno in the old Jewish quarter, who became famous in France and Latin America. A street in Karataş, near the Historical Elevator, carries his name.
Benefactors
Nesim Levi Bayraklı (1849-1926). Businessman and philanthropist who built the Historical Elevator in 1907 and endowed the Karataş Jewish Hospital, and who supported the building of synagogues in the growing Karataş quarter.