Lelio Cantoni (1802,

Gazzuolo Gazzuolo (Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southwest of Mantua. The town had been a possession of Gonzaga family, the lord of Mantua, ...

, Dukedom of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

– 1857,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

) was an Italian

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. In 1829 he entered the Istituto Rabbinico at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, then recently established, graduating as a rabbi in 1832. From 1833 until his death he was chief rabbi of Turin. Endowed with executive ability and magnetic personality, and being a man of deep piety, he ably bridged the gulf that separated the old and the modern views of Judaism. Recognizing his administrative ability, the government repeatedly entrusted Cantoni with the drafting of statutes affecting the Jewish communities. In 1848 he actively recruited among Turin's Jews and helped organize volunteers into three battalions of sharpshooters to fight for

Piedmont-Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

against

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

.Jews in the Army of the Kingdom of Italy
/ref> After the emancipation of the Sardinian Jews in 1848, Cantoni was mainly occupied with the organization of the internal administration of Jewish religious matters. To effect this he published his ''Nuovo Ordinamento del Culto Israelitico nes Regi Stati'', in which he advocated the establishment by the government of consistories, pointing out the means by which these could be supported. Cantoni was the chief promoter of the establishment of asylums for children. He was also instrumental in founding the best schools and societies of the community of Turin. Most noteworthy among his achievements was his work on behalf of the emancipation of the Jews in the kingdom of Sardinia through the Constitution of 1848, which was subsequently transferred to united Italy. Cantoni's untimely death prevented the realization of his hopes of founding an organization to include all the communities and rabbis of Italy. In addition to writing books for the edification of the young, he was a contributor to the '' Educatore Israelita'' and the ''Archives Israélites''.

References

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantoni, Lelio 1802 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Italian rabbis People from Gazzuolo Clergy from the Province of Mantua