Jews had lived in South Europe for two thousand years. The Jewish presence in Italy, Spain, and Portugal dates to the Roman period and has continued until the present.
Italy Political figures Alessandro d'Ancona (1835–1914), Senator and mayor of Pisa (1906–1907) Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (1829–1907), linguist and Senator (1886–1890) Luca Barbareschi (born 1956), actor, director and former member of the Chamber of Deputies (2008–2013) Emanuele Fiano (born 1963), member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006 Giovanni Cantoni (1818–1897), physicist, member of the Chamber of Deputies (1867–1874) and Senator (1876–1880) Furio Colombo (born 1931), journalist, member of the Chamber of Deputies (1996–2001, 2008–2013) and Senator (2006–2008) Luigi Cremona (1830–1903), mathematician, Senator (1879–1903) and Minister of Public Education (1898–1899) Giuliano Ferrara (born 1952), Minister for Parliamentary Relations (1994–1995), member of European Parliament (1989–1994), journalist and founder of Il Foglio Aldo Finzi (1891–1944), fascist member of the Chamber of Deputies (1921–1929) Giuseppe Finzi (1815–1886), patriot and Senator (1860–1886) Vittorio Foa (1910–2008), socialist trade unionist Alessandro Fortis (1842–1909), Italian Prime Minister (1905–1906) Augusto Graziani (1933–2014), economist and Senator (1992–1994) Yoram Gutgeld (born 1959), economist and former member of Chamber of Deputies (2013–2018) Anna Kuliscioff (1857–1925), Russian-born revolutionary feminist Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012), scientist and Senator (2001–2012) David Levi (1816–1898), poet, patriot and Senator (1861–1880) Luigi Luzzatti (1841–1927), Italian Prime Minister (1910–1911) Ernesto Nathan (1848–1921), mayor of Rome (1907–1913) Margherita Sarfatti (1880–1961), journalist and mistress of Benito Mussolini Liliana Segre (born 1930), holocaust survivor and Senator for life since 2018 Sidney Sonnino (1847–1922), Italian prime minister (1906, 1909–1910) Umberto Terracini (1895–1983), President of the Constituent Assembly of Italy (1946–1948), Senator (1948–1983) Claudio Treves (1869–1933), politician and writer, grandfather of Carlo Levi Leone Wollemborg (1859–1932), politician and former Minister of Economy
Religious and communal leaders Samuel Aboab (1610–1694), prominent rabbi Aaron ben Gershon abu Al-Rabi or Aronne Abulrabi of Catania (ca. 1400–1450), rabbinic scholar, cabalist and astrologer; called also Aldabi or Alrabi, Aaron was "the first Jew in the history to be invited during a Pontificate to discuss freely and without censorship about religious subjects and papal perplexities; Pope Martin V welcomed him in Rome"Aaron ben Gershon Abu Al-Rabi biography Barbara Aiello, American-born rabbi active in Italy Benjamin Artom (1835–1879), Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain Solomon Aviad Sar-Shalom Basilea (ca. 1680–1743), rabbi Judah Brieli (1643–1722), rabbi Umberto Cassuto (1883–1951), rabbi Abraham Isaac Castello (1726–1789), rabbi Leone Ebreo (1465–1523), Neoplatonic philosopher Amos Luzzatto (1928–2020), writer and former president of the Italian Jewish Communities UnionItalian Jewish Communities Union Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746), rabbi, scholar, mystic, also known as Ramchal Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), important rabbi and scholar, also known as Shadal Raphael Meldola (1754–1828), rabbi David Nieto (1654–1728), rabbi Riccardo Pacifici (1904–1943), rabbi, murdered in Auschwitz Joseph Pardo (1561–1619), rabbi Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (1475–1550), rabbi, philosopher Elio Toaff (1915–2015), rabbi and former Chief of Italian Jews Community Isaiah di Trani (ca. 1180–1250), talmudist, rabbi, also known as RID Moses David Vali (circa 1697 – December 17, 1776) biblical commentator, physician, scholar, and Kabbalist from Padua.
Academics Pedigree of Azzopardi Faraj ben Salim, Sicilian physician and translator from Agrigento Mosé Bonavoglia de' Medici, or Bonavoglio de' Medici (died 1447), Sicilian physician from Messina and Dienchelele (Naggid or Dayan kelali = Universal Judge of Sicilian Jews); his Hebrew name was Moses Hefez Michele Besso (1873–1955), Swiss-born engineer Caecilius of Calacte, Sicilian rhetorician from modern Caronìa Laura Capón (1907–1977), physicist Enrico Castelnuovo, art historian and medievalist Gino Fano (1871–1952), mathematician Robert Fano (1917–2016), physicist Ugo Fano (1912–2001), physicist Carlo Ginzburg (1939–2026), historian Giovanni Jona-Lasinio (born 1932), physicist (Jewish father) Alberto Jori (born 1965), philosopher (Jewish mother) Giorgio Levi Della Vida (1886–1961), linguist specialized in Semitic languages Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909–2012), neurologist, Nobel Prize (1986) Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), criminologist Salvador Luria (1912–1991), microbiologist, Nobel Prize (1969) Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), scholar and poet Franco Modigliani (1918–2003), economist, Nobel Prize (1985) Arnaldo Momigliano (1908–1987), Italian-born historianJewish Year Book 1985 p.188 Bruno Pontecorvo (1913–1993), physicist Guido Pontecorvo (1907–1999), geneticist Giulio Racah (1909–1965), physicist Bruno Rossi (1905–1993), astrophysicist Asher Salah (born 1967), historian Cesare Segre (1928–2014), linguistics, semiotics Emilio Segrè (1905–1989), physicist, Nobel Prize (1959) Sforno family Piero Sraffa (1898–1983), economist Manfredo Tafuri (1935–1994), architectural historian, critic and theorist Ariel Toaff (born 1942), historian Andrew Viterbi (born 1935), inventor of the Viterbi algorithm Bruno Zevi (1918–2000), architectural critic and historian
Mathematicians Emilio Artom (1888–1952), mathematician Eugenio Calabi (1923–2023), mathematician Guido Castelnuovo (1865–1952), mathematician Federigo Enriques (1871–1946), mathematician Gino Fano (1871–1952), mathematician Guido Fubini (1879–1943), mathematician Beppo Levi (1875–1961), mathematician Tullio Levi-Civita (1873–1941), mathematician Beniamino Segre (1903–1977), mathematician Corrado Segre (1863–1924), mathematician Vito Volterra (1860–1940), mathematician
Musicians Mario Ancona (1860–1931), baritone Abramo Basevi (1818–1885), composer and musician Alvise Bassano, musician Anthony Bassano, musician Baptista Bassano, musician Jeronimo Bassano, musician Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968), guitar, classical and synagogal music composer Giacobbe Cervetto (1680–1783), cellistConcise Dictionary of National Biography: "an Italian Jew" and composer Lorenzo Da Ponte (born Emanuele Conegliano, 1749–1838), opera librettist (born Jewish, raised Catholic) Abramo dall'Arpa (died 1566), harpist Abramino dall'Arpa (fl ca. 1577–1593), harpist Aldo Finzi (1897–1945), composer Obadiah the Proselyte, musicianThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed 2001), art. Obadiah the Proselyte Salamone Rossi (ca. 1570–1630), baroque composer Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), conductor (Jewish mother) Leone Sinigaglia (1868–1944), composer
Writers Devorà Ascarelli, poet and translator Giorgio Bassani, author Angela Bianchini, fiction writer Riccardo Calimani, fiction writer and historian Enrico Castelnuovo, father of Guido Moses Chayyim Catalan, poet Lorenzo Da Ponte (born Emanuele Conegliano), opera librettist (born Jewish, raised Catholic) Leonardo de Benedetti, physician and writer Manuela Dviri, writer Alain Elkann, writer and journalist, father of John, Lapo and Ginevra Carlo Ginzburg, historian, writer, essayist and pioneer of microhistory Leone Ginzburg, writer (born in Ukraine) Natalia Ginzburg (born Levi), author (Jewish father), wife of Leone and mother of Carlo Arrigo Levi, writer, journalist and TV anchorman Carlo Levi, writer, painter and physician Primo Levi, chemist and author Carlo Michelstaedter, philosopher Lisa Morpurgo Dordoni, writer, astrologer Paolo Mieli, journalist, historian and director of Corriere della Sera Liana Millu, writer Alberto Moravia (born Pincherle), author (Jewish father) Laura Orvieto, writer Alessandro Piperno, writer Umberto Saba, poet (Jewish mother) Donato Sacerdote, poet Rubino Romeo Salmonì, writer Roberto Saviano, writer, journalist (Jewish mother) Clara Sereni, writer Italo Svevo (born Schmitz), author Humbert Wolfe, poet and civil servantConcise Dictionary of National Biography: "born Umberto Wolff in Milan of Jewish parentage" Aldo Zargani, writer Guido Bedarida, writer
Artists Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, actress Vito D'Ancona, painter Cristiana Capotondi, actress (half Jewish) Gioele Dix (b. Davide Ottolenghi), actor and comedian Ginevra Elkann, film director, sister of John and Lapo Arnoldo Foà, actor Massimiliano Fuksas, architect (Jewish father) Vittorio Gassman, actor (Jewish mother) Alessandro Haber, actor Carlo Levi, writer, painter and physician Leo Lionni Emanuele Luzzati, painter Amedeo Modigliani, painter and sculptor Ernesto Nathan Rogers, architect, critic and editor Moni Ovadia, theatre figure Gillo Pontecorvo, director Xenia Rappoport, actress Bruno Zevi, architect
Business Carlo De Benedetti (born 1934), industrialist, ex-CEO of FIAT, Olivetti, CIR Group, ex-deputy chairman of Banco Ambrosiano and ex-president of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso John (born 1976) and Lapo Elkann (born 1977), Vice Chairman of Fiat (Jewish father) Adriano Goldschmied (born 1944), fashion designer known as the "godfather of denim" who created Diesel, Replay, and AG Adriano Goldschmied; currently directing Goldsign and men's Citizens of Humanity Moses Haim Montefiore (1784–1885), financier and philanthropist Adriano Olivetti (1901–1960), son of Camillo, industrialist and social activist Camillo Olivetti (1868–1943), founder of Olivetti typewriters Guy Spier (born 1966), author and investor
Other Eugenio Calò (1906–1944), Jewish partisan awarded the gold medal for military valour, murdered by the Nazis Angelo Donati (1885–1960), banker who protected Jews in Southern France during Italian occupation in 1942–43 Mario Finzi (1913–1945), partisan (murdered in Auschwitz in 1945) Camila Giorgi (born 1991), tennis player Riccardo Ehrman (1929–2021), journalist Gad Lerner (born 1954), TV anchorman and journalist Gillo Pontecorvo (1919–2006), filmmaker Giorgio Liuzzi (1895–1983), Chief of the Staff of the Italian Army from 1954 to 1959 Renato Mannheimer (born 1947), pollster, president of IPSO Maurizio Molinari (born 1964), journalist and essayist Edgardo Mortara (1851–1940), boy kidnapped by Catholic Papal authorities Fiamma Nirenstein (born 1945), essayist, journalist and MP for PDL (elected in 2008) Enzo Sereni (1905–1944), Zionist and partisan, executed in Dachau concentration camp
Malta Ondina Tayar (1912–2004), writer and pharmacist
Spain and Portugal
See also Lists of Jews List of Iberian Jews List of Italian Jews
Footnotes