Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia, Paivia), a
Paradesi Jew of
Madras, was a Portuguese Jewish diamond and coral merchant from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
belonging to the
Amsterdam Sephardic community. He was married to
Hieronima de Paiva.
After de Paiva's death, his wife
Hieronima de Paiva, also a Portuguese Jew, fell in love with
Elihu Yale
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India ...
, Governor of Madras, and went to live with him, causing quite a scandal within Madras colonial society. Governor Yale later achieved fame when he gave a large donation to the University of New Haven in Connecticut, which was then named after him — the Yale University. Hieromima de Paiva and the son she had with him died in South Africa.
Golconda diamonds
De Paiva established good relations with
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
(EIC) and those in power, which enabled him to buy several mines to source
Golconda diamonds. Through his efforts, Jews were permitted to live and trade
Golconda diamonds and corals within Fort St. George.
De Paiva died in 1687 after a visit to his mines of Golconda diamonds and was buried in the
Jewish cemetery which he had established in Peddanaickenpet, which later became the north Mint Street,
alongside the synagogue which also existed at Mint Street. On his tombstone we find that he died in the month of Tishri 5548 / 1687 CE.
Philanthropy
De Paiva organized the Jews into the semblance of a community and established Madras Jewish community. He built the Second
Madras Synagogue
The Madras Synagogue is the only synagogue in Madras and it was built by Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia) a Paradesi Jew of Madras. Madras Synagogue was also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, ''Esnoga'' is synagogue in Ladino, the traditio ...
and
Jewish Cemetery Chennai
The Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for the Paradesi Jews of Chennai, India. It is located off Lloyd's Road. The cemetery remains the only memoir of the once significant Jewish population of Chennai, which has now almost become extinct. Burials ...
, Peddanaickenpet.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paiva, Jacques De
People from Chennai
Indian Jews
Paradesi Jews
1687 deaths
Year of birth unknown