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The 'Abravanel' family (also spelled as 'Abarbanel' or 'Abrabanel') is one of the oldest and most distinguished Jewish families of the Iberian peninsula; they trace their origin from the biblical King David. Members of this family lived in Seville, where its oldest representative, Don Judah Abravanel, dwelt. Samuel Abravanel, his grandson, settled in Valencia, and Samuel's son, Judah (or perhaps himself), left for Portugal. Isaac, the son of Judah, returned to Castile, where he lived until the time of the great expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. Then, with his three sons, Judah, Joseph, and Samuel, Isaac went to Italy. Their descendants, as well as other members of the family who arrived later from the Iberian peninsula, lived in the Netherlands, England, Turkey, and elsewhere during and since the sixteenth century.
There was a Ladino proverb in Thessaloniki saying ''"Ya basta mi nombre ke es Abravanel"'' meaning "It is sufficient that my name is Abravanel". This proverb was used to denote the pride that the members of the Abravanel clan used to take in their aristocratic origin. Fictitious members of the family are characters in Eric Flint's ''1632 series'', of Alternative History books.
Several of the more prominent members of this family include:


★ Don Isaac Abravanel, also Isaac ben Judah Abravanel or Abarbanel (1437-1508) was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He was a Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.

★ Judah Abravanel was a receiver of customs at Seville, Spain, in 1310. He rendered substantial service to the grandees of Castile. The ''infante'' Don Pedro, in his will, dated from Seville, May 9, 1317, ordered that Judah be paid: (1) 15,000 ''maravedis'' for clothes delivered; (2) 30,000 ''maravedis'' as part of a personal debt, at the same time requesting Judah to release him from paying the rest. Judah had been in great favor with King Alfonso the Wise, with whom he once had a conversation regarding Judaism.

★ Judah Leon Abravanel, also Leon Hebreo or Leo Hebraeus (1460?-1535?), was a European Jewish physician, poet and philosopher, author of the "Dialogues of Love", the eldest son of Don Isaac Abravanel.

★ Joseph Abravanel (Lisbon, 1471-c.1552), son of Don Isaac Abravanel, was a physician and scholar. He lived in Venice and later in Ferrara, and enjoyed a great reputation.

★ Isaac Abravanel II (?-1573) was son of Joseph Abravanel and grandson of the Bible-commentator. He lived in Ferrara.

★ Jonah Abravanel (?-1667) was a poet who lived in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. He was the son of the physician Joseph Abravanel, and a nephew of Manasseh ben Israel. He wrote, in Portuguese, ''Elegio em Louvar da Nova Yesiba, instituido por o Senhor Yshac Pereira, de que he Ros Yesiba o Senhor Haham Menasse ben Israel'' (''Elegy in Praise of New Yesiba, instituted by Lord Yshac Pereira, the Ros Yesiba of which is Lord Haham Menasse ben Israel'', Amsterdam, 1644). He also wrote elegies upon the martyrs Isaac de Castro Tartas (1647) and the Bernals (1655). After 1630, with Dr. Ephraim Bueno, he published ritualistic works and ''Psalterio de David... transladado con toda fidelidad'' (''Psalterio of David... translated with full fidelity'', Amsterdam, 1644).

★ Samuel Abravanel was the son of Judah Abravanel of Seville. He settled in Castile and became a patron of learning. He supported the scholar Menahem ben Zerah and had him elected rabbi of Toledo. As a mark of his gratitude, Menahem dedicated to Abravanel his work ''Ẓedah la-Derek'' (''Provision for the Journey''). During the persecution of 1361 he submitted to Christian and was baptized, according to Zacuto, Juan of Seville. He soon, however, returned to Judaism.

★ Samuel Abravanel (Lisbon, 1473-Ferrara, 1551) was the youngest son of Isaac Abravanel, and the grandson of Judah. His father sent him to Salonica to pursue his ''Talmudic'' studies, where he became the pupil of Joseph Fasi. He lived in Naples and was employed as financier by the viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo. Samuel was a patron of Jewish learning. His house was a favorite resort for Jewish and Christian scholars. The Portuguese refugee David ben Yachya, whom Samuel succeeded in placing as rabbi in Naples, and the Baruch of Benevento, a Kabbalist, were his close friends. Following in the footsteps of his father, and aided by his wife, Samuel was always ready to defend his fellow Jews. When Charles V issued an edict to expel the Jews from Naples, Benvenida, with the assistance of Leonora, intervened in their behalf so effectively that the decree was revoked. But several years later, when Charles V ordered the Jews either to leave the land or to wear the badge, the Abravanels settled in Ferrara, where Samuel died 1551, and Benvenida three years later.

★ Maurice Abravanel (Saloniki, Greece-1903, Salt Lake City, U.S.-1993) was raised in Lausanne, Switzerland and, after emigrating to the USA, became the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra.

★ Senor Abravanel, artistic name Silvio Santos, is a famous TV show host in Brazil and owner of SBT, the country's second biggest television network.

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See also

References

See also

★ Sephardi

References

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★ Usque, Samuel, ''Consolaçam as Tribulaçoẽs de Ysrael'' (Ferrara, 1553; 2d ed. Amsterdam, n.d.)

★ Grätz, Heinrich, ''Geschichte der Juden'', ix 47 ''et seq.'', 327 ''et seq.''

★ Kayserling, Meyer, ''Geschichte der Juden in Portugal'', p. 264 (available here)

★ —, ''Die Jüdischen Frauen'', pp. 77 ''et seq.''