The history of the Jews in Livorno (Leghorn in English, Liorne or Liorna in Ladino), Italy has been documented since 1583, when descendants of the late 15th-century expulsions from Spain and Portugal settled in the city. They were settled initially by Sephardic Jews from Pisa. The Jewish community of Livorno, although the youngest among the historic Jewish communities of Italy, was for some time the foremost: its members achieved political rights and wealth, and contributed to scholarship in the thriving port city. Numerous Jewish schools and welfare institutions were established.
Livorno traded with northern Europe and the Levant but declined in the later 19th century after losing its status as a free port. From a peak estimated population of 10,000 Sephardic Jews during that period, by 1904 a total of 3,000 Jews remained in Livorno, many having emigrated to other cities and nations where they were known as Grana in Judeo-Arabic or gorneyim (גורנים) in Hebrew.
History
The first traces of a Jewish settlement are found in documents from about 1583. The Medici family, working to promote the growth of the city, its trade, the port, recruited many new settlers from Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Spanish Marranos also found a refuge there in 1590. In 1591, and again in 1593, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany issued a charter to assure all foreigners desiring to settle at Livorno, including Jews, of the most extensive rights and privileges. Many Jews were attracted by this promise. The Jewish community of Pisa received the privilege of founding a branch at Livorno with a synagogue and cemetery. In 1597, the Jews of Livorno received autonomous rights as a community, and they built a synagogue in 1603.
Rights and privileges
The Jewish community was authorized to have complete jurisdiction in civil cases involving Jews and in some minor criminal cases. In 1593 the duke's administration appointed a special judge to the Jewish court; his sentencing could be appealed only with the permission of the grand duke. As controversies arose regarding the extent of the jurisdiction, the grand duke decreed that severe penalties, such as sentences of death and penal servitude, should be confirmed by the public court. The Livornese community had the right of succession in all Jewish cases where the deceased died without natural or legal heirs.
When the Jewish community was established (in 1593), the directors were empowered to grant safe-conducts and immunity as regards previous crimes and debts to all Jews who settled at Livorno. The communal directors decided on accepting new settlers by a majority vote of two-thirds. The right of immunity in the case of previous crimes was soon abrogated by the grand duke.
When Tuscany was incorporated into the French empire in 1808, the French established their law and abolished the Jewish court, also abrogating the community's right of succession. The Jewish court was revived in 1814, but with limited jurisdiction, confined to questions relating to marital law. In 1822 such cases were also assigned to the municipal courts; the directors of the Jewish community retained the privilege of giving advisory opinions. Since 1866 and the unification of Italy, the Codice Civile and civil marriage have applied to all residents of Livorno as throughout the kingdom of Italy.
In 1786, the Grand Duke of Tuscany's administration limited the immunity from debt of Jews to only those debts that had been incurred more than four months previously. This rule continued to 1836. The right of naturalization, however, remained in force until 1859, when the Jews received full citizenship in the unified Italy.
Taxes
From the beginning, the Jewish community had the right to impose taxes for the purpose of defraying its expenses. This right was confirmed in 1715, 1782, and 1814. In 1829 it was amplified. The community established the following taxes:
Ẓorke ẓibbur, ½ per cent of their income, payable by all Jews living at Livorno, or engaged in trade or commerce there, and having a yearly income of more than 1,500 lire. Diritto nazionale, a duty on all goods imported or exported by Jews through the port of Livorno, at the rate of ⅛ per cent for resident and ¼ per cent for non-resident Jews. Merchants were required to keep a special column in their books for this tax. Beginning with 1767, a special tax upon private synagogues, in order to prevent their multiplication. Special tax on meat slaughtered according to the Jewish ritual (kosher).
Later the community gradually abolished these separate taxes, and raised funds by a single tax, sussidio obbligatorio, to cover all the needs of the community.