Riccardo Reuven Pacifici (18 February 1904 — 12 December 1943 ) was a

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 ...

from an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family of ancient

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

origins, with roots in the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

nical traditions. Together with his wife, he was murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Life

Son of Mario Mordechai Pacifici and Gilda Borghi, Pacifici descended from an ancient

and religious Jewish family of

origin and of

nical tradition settled in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

(first in Leghorn, then in Florence) in the 16th century. After the "

Liceo Classico Liceo classico or Ginnasio (literally ''classical lyceum'') is the oldest, public secondary school type in Italy. Its educational curriculum spans over five years, when students are generally about 14 to 19 years of age. Until 1969, this was ...

" (Classical Studies High School) he attended the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

, where he graduated summa cum laude in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

(Lettere Classiche) in 1926, and in 1927 he was awarded by the Rabbinical College of Florence—where he had studied under important scholars such as

Elia Samuele Artom Elia is a name which may be a variant of the names Elias, Elijah, Eli or Eliahu, and may refer to: People * Aelia (gens) or Elia, a ''gens'' of Ancient Rome Mononymic * Elia or Elijah, a biblical prophet * Elia, a pen-name of Charles Lamb First ...

Umberto Cassuto Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto (16 September 1883 – 19 December 1951), was an Italian historian, a rabbi, and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic literature, in the University of Florence, then at the University of R ...

Shemuel Zvi Margulies ''Shmuel'' or Schmuel/ Shmeil is the Hebrew equivalent of the name Samuel. It is popular also in Polish Yiddish versions of the name: Szmul or Szmuel and Szmulik or Szmulek. Shmuel and variations may refer to: * Samuel (Bible), the Hebrew Bible p ...

—the title of ''

Hakham ''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He ...

ha shalem'' (Senior Rabbi). Pacifici served as Vicerabbi of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

from 1928 to 1930, director of the

Rabbinical College of Rhodes Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

from 1930, Great Rabbi of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

until 1936,
Jewish Virtual Library entry on Pacifici.

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of the

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Jewish Community (

Comunità Israelitica di Genova ''Comunità'' (Italian: ''Community'') was a cultural magazine published in Rome, Italy. The magazine was in circulation between 1946 and 1960. History and profile ''Comunità'' was established by Adriano Olivetti in 1946. It was the cultural p ...

) from 1936 until deported by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in 1943. Even during the difficult war years, Pacifici never stopped his spiritual and teaching activity. He continued his rabbinical duties between 1942 and 1943 with the Jewish refugees of the

Ferramonti di Tarsia Ferramonti di Tarsia, also known as Ferramonti, was an Italian internment camp used to intern political dissidents and ethnic minorities. It was located in the municipality of Tarsia, near Cosenza, in Calabria. It was the largest of the fifteen in ...

internment camp, located in

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

in the region of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. Unwilling to leave his

Community and thus abandon his remaining members, Rav Pacifici was captured by deceit in 1943 by the

and sent to

, where he was murdered with his wife Wanda Abenaim and many other members of the Pacifici family. The
"Largo Riccardo Pacifici" square
in the heart of

was named after him in 1966. He was the grandfather of the past Rome Jewish Community President Riccardo Pacifici.

Bibliography

*''Le iscrizioni dell'antico cimitero ebraico a

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

(Inscriptions of the Ancient Jewish Cemetery in

)'', Tipografia Enrico Ariani,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, 1935; *''Il nuovo Tempio di Genova con illustrazioni e notizie storiche sulla Comunità nei secoli XVII-XVIII (The New Genoa's Temple with Illustrations and Historical Notes on the Community in the 17th and 18th Centuries)'', Tipografia Marsano,

, 1939; *''Fatti e personaggi biblici alla luce del pensiero tradizionale ebraico. Antologia di

Midrashim ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

scelti e tradotti da Riccardo Pacifici'' (A Midrash Anthology translated by R. Pacifici), Grafotecnica,

, 1943; *''Discorsi sulla Torà (Torah Speeches)'',

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 5728-1968, edited by Emanuele Pacifici :it:Emanuele Pacifici (available online as a free e-book o
torah.it
; *''Fatti e personaggi biblici nell'interpretazione ebraica tradizionale (Biblical Facts and Figures in Traditional Jewish Interpretation)'', Marietti,

, 1986, ed. by Emanuele Pacifici.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacifici, Riccardo 1904 births 1943 deaths Italian Sephardi Jews Italian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Italian civilians killed in World War II 20th-century Italian rabbis Clergy from Florence Sephardi rabbis