Prime Venetian Jews
05/19/2023
They saved the largest banks from collapse, and at the same time the entire financial system of Italy. And they made it the first country headed by two Jews in a row.
As far back as the 16th century, the Grand Dukes of Tuscany declared freedom of religion in Livorno. This attracted religiously persecuted people from all over Europe to the city - from Catholics from England to Huguenots from France. And, of course, the Jews who fled from Spain and Portugal. And over time, the Jewish community of Livorno became one of the largest in Italy.
The city of Livorno, declared a free port - the territory of duty-free import and export of goods, the predecessor of today's duty free - lived on trade and prospered. But for many entrepreneurs it became crowded there - and they went to seek their fortune in other lands. So did the Jew Isaac Saul Sonnino, who was born in the first half of the 19th century in Livorno.
Sydney Sonnino
He moved to Egyptian Alexandria, engaged in trade and founded a bank there. And at the same time, having become close to the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali, he helped him create a local state bank and a customs system. But as it happened once before in Egyptian history, a good pharaoh was replaced by another - "who did not remember the merits of Joseph." The new pasha did not need the services of a foreigner, and Isaac was forced to return back to Italy. But not alone, but with his wife Sophia, 20 years younger than him. However, the money earned in Egypt was more than enough for him to buy a medieval castle, and with it the title of baron.
However, the sons of Baron Isaac - as he was now called in the Italian manner - turned out to be surprisingly indifferent to business and saw themselves immediately in politics. The eldest son, Giorgio, eventually became a senator. But his brother Sydney rose even higher and for a short time led all of Italy.
Sydney Sonnino
Sydney was born in 1847 - after the family returned to the Apennines. As a child, he suffered from a lack of attention: his parents gave him little time. And in his youth he suffered from unrequited love. To distract himself, Sydney plunged into work and made a career in the diplomatic field. He worked in the Italian embassies in Madrid and Vienna, Berlin and Paris. And even in St. Petersburg!
And after leaving the diplomatic service, together with fellow parliamentarian Leopold Franchetti, he prepared a report on the state of affairs in Sicily, a significant part of which was devoted to the mafia! And his report until the 1980s remained the most authoritative study on this topic.
Sydney Sonnino
In 1880, Sydney was elected to the Italian Parliament, but, of course, he received the post of Minister of Finance only in 1893. And he immediately faced an economic disaster - the bankruptcy of one of the largest banks in the country, Banca Romana. The situation was further complicated by the fact that this bank had the right to issue the national currency. However, five more private banks had their own printing presses. And then Sydney reformed the financial system of Italy, creating a single Banca d`Italia, which eventually became the country's central bank.
Another proof that Sydney seems to have inherited financial ability from his father was his budgetary reforms, as a result of which the budget deficit was reduced by a factor of three! But after another change of government - and they often happened in Italy - Sydney lost his ministerial post. And he went into journalism, founded the newspaper Il Giornale d'Italia, which soon became the most popular newspaper in the country.
Sydney Sonnino
But ahead of him was a return to politics. Moreover, Sydney has twice become prime minister. But thanks to the intense political life in the Apennines, both times the cabinet he formed lasted only three months. Sydney's successful premiership was hampered by completely human, but ill-suited qualities for politics - uncompromisingness and unwillingness to sacrifice principles for the sake of temporary gain.
His last major government post was Italian Foreign Minister during the First World War. However, in this position, Sydney survived three prime ministers and still represented the country at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920.
Sydney Sonnino at an international conference (second from left)
It is curious that Sydney did not forget about its Jewish roots. In May 1917, after a meeting with the Secretary General of the World Zionist Organization, Nakhum Sokolov, he wrote a letter in which he “generally” recognized the legitimacy of the Jewish claims to the land of their ancestors. And a year later, in May 1918, Sydney officially, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced Italy's approval of the Balfour Declaration, recognizing the right of the Jewish people to establish their own national home.
In 1922, Baron Sidney Sonnino died of a stroke. In recognition of services to Italy, one of the Roman squares was named after him - Piazza Sidney Sonnino. And despite the Jewish origin of Sonnino, the area was not renamed during the rule of the Nazis in Italy.
Luigi Luzzatti (left)
It is noteworthy that in 1910 Sydney was replaced as prime minister by another Jew - Luigi Luzzatti. He was born in 1841 to a Venetian Jewish family. His father owned two factories, one for the production of hemp and one for the production of woolen blankets. And Luigi himself in his youth could not decide which field of activity he should choose: he was interested in philosophy and poetry, but eventually settled on economics. And he was not mistaken - the subject was given to him so well that already at the age of 20, Luigi himself lectured, proving the advantages of free trade.
But soon the young lecturer had to leave his hometown. After all, Venice in those years as part of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom was under the rule of Austria-Hungary. And the Austrian authorities were extremely unhappy that Luigi, in addition to teaching, also organized a society for the mutual assistance of gondoliers.
And he was forced to leave for Milan - to teach political economy at the Technical Institute. At the age of 26, he became a professor of economics at the University of Padua, one of the oldest universities in Europe. And having reached the age of 28, from which, according to the then Italian laws, it was possible to be elected to government bodies, Luigi ended up in parliament.
Luigi Luzzatti (right)
For more than three decades of political experience, he held various ministerial posts, including being the Minister of Finance in as many as four governments. And in this post, Luigi saved the Bank of Naples and local authorities in Sicily and Sardinia from bankruptcy. And at the same time he managed to stop the senseless customs war with France. In general, he established normal trade relations with her. For which, by the way, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor.
In addition, Luigi became the author of the law on compulsory insurance against accidents and most of the laws on cooperation. And of course, he supported the Zionist movement, considering the creation of Jewish agricultural settlements in Palestine to be the most important thing. But as a politician, he, like his predecessor, turned out to be less talented than a financier: the cabinet of ministers under his leadership lasted only one year - until March 1911.
Luigi Luzzatti (center)
While still a retired senator, Luigi continued to write. And not only about economics and finance. For example, his collection G-d in Freedom, published in 1926, included essays on the attitude of the state towards national-religious minorities, notes on the Beilis case and the granting of civil rights to the Jews of Romania.
Luigi presented one of the copies of this book to the new head of government, Benito Mussolini, urging him to use his power to protect all those persecuted for religious beliefs. In March 1927, Luigi Luzzatti died. He was given a lavish state funeral. And perhaps a fraction of the credit for the fact that in Italy the Jewish question was not solved as zealously as in neighboring Germany, falls on his account.
Alexey Alekseev
In addition, Luigi became the author of the law on compulsory insurance against accidents and most of the laws on cooperation.
I've wondered whether insurance was not another usury type racket? But I don't know enough to have a real opinion.