Sarfati ( he, צרפתי; , variously transliterated and spelled Sarfatti, Sarphati, Serfaty, Sarfate, Sarfaty, Sarfity, Zarfati, Tsarfati, Tsarfaty, Tzarfati, Serfati) is a Sephardic Jewish surname. The surname literally means "French" in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and is derived from the Biblical placename

Tzarfat Tzarfat ( he, צרפת) is a Biblical placename that may refer to Sarepta in Lebanon. In later times, it came to be identified with France. It is still the name of France in Modern Hebrew, and is analogous to Sefarad, and Ashkenaz. The epithet ...

which in later times was identified in Jewish tradition as

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The term "Tzarfati" ( he, צרפתי) was frequently applied in rabbinical literature to Jews of French birth or descent.

Origin

One account places the origin of the surname as being linked to

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

by way of his grandson

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam ( he, רבינו תם), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading ''halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a gr ...

, but the connection, although anchored in the

Ketubot A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...

traditions has never been fully proven due to a seven generations gap in the genealogy after Jews were expelled from France by Philippe le Bel in 1306. At any case, numerous bearers of this name (whose ancestors came from France) lived in various parts of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

during the 14th-15th centuries: they appear in Spanish and Portuguese documents under the spellings Sarfati and Çarfati. During the 15th century and especially after the expulsion of Jews from these countries (1490s) some branches migrated from the Iberian Peninsula to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

,Beider, A. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Maghreb, Gibraltar, and Malta, New Haven, CN: Avotaynu, 2017 while others to the city of

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 ...

and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

List

Notable people with the surname include:

Sarfati

Diana Sarfati Diana Sarfati (born 1967/1968) is New Zealand's Director–General of Health and a public health physician and health services researcher. She was formerly head of Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency in New Zealand. Career Sarfati wa ...

, New Zealand public health doctor and epidemiologist *

Georges-Elia Sarfati Georges-Elia Sarfati is a philosopher, linguist, poet, and an existentialist psychoanalyst, author of written works in the domains of ethics, Jewish thought, social criticism, and discourse analysis. He has translated Viktor E. Frankl. He is th ...

, philosopher, linguist, poet, and an existentialist psychoanalyst *

Jonathan Sarfati Jonathan David Sarfati (born 1 October 1964) is a young Earth creationist who writes articles for Creation Ministries International (CMI), a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry. Sarfati has a PhD in chemistry, and was New Zealand nation ...

(born 1964), Australian–New Zealander chess player and creationist author * Lea Michele Sarfati (born 1986), American singer and actress, Broadway performer and star of TV show "Glee" *

Lise Sarfati Lise Sarfati (born 1958) is a French photographer and artist. She is noted for her photographs of elusive characters, often young, who resist any attempt to being pinned down. Her work particularly explores the instability of feminine identity. M ...

(born 1958), French photographer * Lydia Sarfati, Polish-born American esthetician, entrepreneur, consultant and author * Samuel Sarfati (died c. 1519), Italian physician to

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

and

Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...

and leader of the Jewish community in Rome * Semah Sarfati (1624–1717) Tunisian rabbi who was chief rabbi of Tunisia *

Sonia Sarfati Sonia Sarfati (born May 29, 1960) is a Canadian author and journalist born in France and living in Quebec. The daughter of a Tunisian father and an Italians, Italian mother, she was born in Toulouse. She moved to Montreal with her family at the a ...

(born 1960), French author and journalist * Tzedi Tzarfati (born 1941), Israeli television presenter and theatre director * Yitzhak Sarfati, 15th century Ottoman rabbi

Sarfatti

Anna Sarfatti Anna Sarfatti (born 1950) is an Italian writer of children's books. Biography Sarfatti was born in Florence. She has taught in nursery and primary school for many years. Some of her books have been written in order to help children become cons ...

(born 1950), Italian writer of children's books *

Jack Sarfatti Jack Sarfatti (born September 14, 1939) is an American theoretical physicist. Working largely outside academia, most of Sarfatti's publications revolve around quantum physics and consciousness. Sarfatti was a leading member of the Fundamenta ...

(born 1939), American theoretical physicist and writer *

Margherita Sarfatti Margherita Sarfatti (née Grassini; 8 April 1880 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian journalist, art critic, patron, collector, socialite, and prominent propaganda adviser of the National Fascist Party. She was Benito Mussolini's biographer as we ...

(1880–1961), Italian journalist and lover of Benito Mussolini * Riccardo Sarfatti (1940–2010), Italian architect and politician in Lombardy

Sarfate

Dennis Sarfate Dennis Scott Sarfate (born April 9, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Saitama Seibu ...

(born 1981), American baseball player

Sarfaty

* Gretta Sarfaty Marchant (born 1947), British-Brazilian artist and curator *

Regina Sarfaty Regina Sarfaty (born 1934), later "Regina Sarfaty Rickless" after her marriage to Elwood A. Rickless in 1963, is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active career during the 1950s through the 1980s. Sarfaty first rose to prominence throu ...

(born 1934), American operatic mezzo-soprano

Sarfatty

* Bouena Sarfatty (1916–1997), Greek-Jewish World War II partisan and poet

Sarphati

Samuel Sarphati Samuel Sarphati (31 January 1813 – 23 June 1866) was a Dutch physician and Amsterdam city planner. Biography Sarphati's ancestors were Spanish and Portuguese Jews who arrived in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Though middle-class, his p ...

(1813–1866), Dutch physician and city planner

Serfaty

* Abraham Serfaty (1926–2010), Moroccan dissident *

Abraham Serfaty (Gibraltarian) Abraham William Serfaty CBE, JP, was a Gibraltarian architect and politician. Biography Born in 1910, Abraham William Serfaty was a draughtsman of the Gibraltar City Council when he received an invitation to work for ''Messrs Pearson Me ...

, former

Mayor of Gibraltar The Mayor of Gibraltar is the ceremonial official of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The mayor is appointed by the elected Members of ParliamentChristine Daure-Serfaty (1926–2014), French-Moroccan activist * Dan Serfaty (born 1966) is a French entrepreneur and businessman * Isaac Chocrón Serfaty (1930-2011), Venezuelan playwright *

Rosalinda Serfaty Rosalinda Raquel Serfaty Rosenstock (born April 24, 1969, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born Venezuelan television and theater actress of Moroccan Jewish and Berber Moroccan origin. Biography Rosalinda was born to Jewish parents Jaime Serf ...

(born 1969), Argentine-born Venezuelan actress * Sylvia Serfaty, French Mathematician, winner of the 2004

EMS Prize The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The current ...

for her contributions to the

Ginzburg–Landau theory In physics, Ginzburg–Landau theory, often called Landau–Ginzburg theory, named after Vitaly Ginzburg and Lev Landau, is a mathematical physical theory used to describe superconductivity. In its initial form, it was postulated as a phenomenol ...

* Willa Vasquez Serfaty, Gibraltarian artist

References

{{Surname, Sarfati Jewish surnames Maghrebi Jewish surnames Hebrew-language surnames Sephardic surnames Jews and Judaism in France