The de Castro surname is used by a
Sephardic Jewish family of
Portuguese,
Spanish and
Italian origin. Soon after the establishment of the
Portuguese Inquisition, members of the family emigrated to
Bordeaux,
Bayonne
Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...
,
Hamburg, and various cities in the Netherlands. Their descendants were later to be found scattered throughout Turkey, Egypt, Holland, Germany, England, Italy,
United States and
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
[ ]
Some branches of the family have continued to bear the simple name of ''de Castro'', others are known by ''de Castro-Osório'', ''de Castro Sarmento'', ''de Castro-Castello-Osório'', ''Pereira de Castro'', ''de Castro Vieira de Pinto'', ''Rodrigues de Castro'', ''Orobio de Castro'', ''de Castro de Paz'', ''Henriques de Castro'', etc. The name often appears as "de Crasto." Note that
Castro
Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''.
...
is not in origin Jewish but an
Iberian Christian name
A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...
, adopted by some Portuguese and
Spanish Jews after the
forced conversions
Forced conversion is the adoption of a different religion or the adoption of irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which ...
of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Also in Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Tuluá Valle del Cauca in Colombia and Coro in Venezuela.
Notable members
*
Adolphe Danziger De Castro
Adolphe Danziger De Castro, also known as Gustav Adolf Danziger, Adolph Danziger, Adolphe Danziger and Adolphe De Castro, (November 6, 1859 – March 4, 1959) was a Jewish scholar, journalist, lawyer and author of poems, novels and short stories. ...
.
* Melba Lozano Lerma De Castro.
* Sharon de Castro.
*
Abraham de Castro Abraham de Castro (Hebrew language, Hebrew: אברהם קסטרו; d. 1560) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Jews, Jewish financialist who served as the Mint (facility), head of the mint for List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Sultan, Selim ...
.
*
Saul De Castro Lozano
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
.
*Samuel de Castro was Founder of De Castro Trading house in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
*
Isaac Orobio De Castro
Balthazar (Isaac) Orobio de Castro (c.1617 in Bragança, Portugal – November 7, 1687 in Amsterdam), was a Portuguese Jewish philosopher, physician and religious apologist.
Life
While still a child, he was taken to Seville by his parents, wh ...
See also
*
Inquisition
*
Marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...
s
*
Crypto-Jews
Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden').
The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...
*
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
*
Sephardim
*
Paradesi Jews
References
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro
Jewish families
Portuguese-language surnames
Sephardic surnames
People of Portuguese-Jewish descent