Sephardim in Eastern Europe (Romania and Moldova [former Bessarabia])
Presented in English by Felicia Waldman
We shall look at the 500 year history of Spanish Jews in the Romanian lands (the Principalities of Wallachia, Moldova (which at times included Bessarabia) and Transylvania until 1859 and respectively Romania afterwards) through the lens of their economic, financial, social, educational, and cultural contributions to the development of their home- (or in some instances adoptive) country. As a particular case study, starting from the genealogical trees of the two most important Sephardic families of 19th century Bucharest, we shall see how instrumental personal connections, which often doubled business links, proved to be in the success of their patriotic efforts.
Assoc. Prof. of Hebrew Studies at the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Felicia coordinates the Center for Hebrew Studies and the MA program in Hebrew Culture and Civilization. She is also Deputy Head of the Romanian Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. She has authored and co-authored 4 books [“Stories and Images of Jewish Bucharest” (NMP, Bucharest, 2011), “Tales and Traces of Sephardic Bucharest” (NMP, Bucharest, 2016), “Trailing in the Footsteps of Jacques Elias. Documents, images and testimonies of a lost history” (Romanian Academy of Sciences, Bucharest, 2023) and “Halfon Saga: A Story about the Rise and Decline of Sephardic Aristocracy in Romania” (Integral, Bucharest, 2024)] as well as 20 articles on topics related to the Romanian Jewish history and heritage.
