Sephardic Jews of Curaçao

Historical Timeline of Jewish Curaçao

  • 1651: Arrival of the first Jewish settlers in Curacao, primarily Sephardic Jews from Amsterdam and Brazil.
  • 1659: Establishment of the Jewish community in Curacao with a formal congregation.
  • 17th Century. Beth Haim Cemetery established.
  • 1732: Construction of the current Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue
  • 1864: Founding of the Jewish Benevolent Society
  • 1955: The merger of the Sephardic congregation Mikvé Israel and the Ashkenazi congregation Emanuel to form the Mikvé Israel-Emanuel congregation.
  • 1968: Establishment of the Jewish Cultural Historical Museum in the Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue complex

Historical Background

Early Settlement

In 1650, twelve Jewish families received permission to settle in Curaçao from the Netherlands. These families included the Aboab, Aboab Cardozo, Chaves, Henriquez Continho, Jesurun, De León, Marchena, De Meza, Oliveria, La Parra, Pereira, and Touro. They settled in Willemstad in an area still known as the Jodenwyk (“Jewish quarter”). The first Sephardic Jews of Curaçao were joined by Jewish refugees from Brazil four years later, initiating trade between Curaçao and New Amsterdam (later New York). From 1656, there was also illicit trade with Isaac de Fonseca in the English colony of Barbados.

Cultural and Genetic Heritage

Genetically, the historic isolation of Curaçao’s Jewish community means that it may be the only Western Sephardic community where most autosomal DNA is of Western Sephardic origin. It is also possible that some people on the Venezuelan coast facing Curaçao may have Sephardic Jewish ancestry.

Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue

The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel synagogue (the “snoa”, short for ‘esnoga’ meaning synagogue in ‘Jewish Portuguese’) was built in 1730. The sand on the synagogue floor is a local alternative to the sawdust used in Europe.

Video: A Journey through Curacao’s Jewish History – Ron Gomes Casseres

Sephardic Jewish Genealogy in Curaçao

Key Resources

  • Mongui Maduro Foundation maintains the Maduro Library and museum, which is the principal resource for researching the Portuguese-Jewish community of Curaçao. They have a searchable catalogue.
  • Center for Jewish History has a Curaçao Jewish Community Collection.
  • Amsterdam City Archives hold the Inventory of the Archives of the Portuguese-Israelite Municipality of Curaçao.
  • Dutch National Archives in The Hague contains copies of Portuguese-Jewish birth registers from Curaçao, covering male births from 1722 to 1830 and female births from 1743 to 1831.
    • 1484A: Geboorteregister van Portugese Joden (mannen). Met aantekening van hun overlijden. 1722 – 1830
    • 1484B: Geboorteregister van Portugese Joden (vrouwen). Met aantekening van hun huwelijkse staat. Met bijlagen. 1743 – 1831

Additional Research Resources

Books on the Jews of Curaçao

  • “History of the Jews of the Netherlands Antilles” by Issac S. Emmanuel and Suzanne A. Emmanuel (1970). Volume 1 and Volume 2
  • “Guidebook: The Historic Synagogue of the United Netherlands Portuguese Congregation ‘Mikvé Israel-Emanuel’ of Curaçao” by Simeon J. Maslin (1975).

American Jewish Archives

The American Jewish Archives have some archives of the Curaçao Jewish community, including minute books, correspondence, and financial records primarily from Mikvé Israel Congregation in Willemstad, Curaçao. These are organized into several folders and boxes, containing documents from the 19th century.

Series A: Curaçao, 1809-1898

Extent: 1.1 linear feet (2.75 Hollinger boxes)

Description: This series consists of minute books (libro de minutas), correspondence, and other records primarily from the Mikvé Israel Congregation in Willemstad, Curaçao. The documents are arranged alphabetically by folder content. Below is a detailed box and folder listing.

Box and Folder Listing
Box 1
  • Folder 1: Accounts (expenditure and income), Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1839-1840
  • Folder 2: Book of Moses L. H. H. Penha, Mikvé Israel Congregation, undated
  • Folder 3: Correspondence, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1857 May 11-1860 October
  • Folder 4: Correspondence and financial records, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1809-1874
  • Folder 5: Correspondence and financial records, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1852 August 10-1855 May 10
  • Folder 6: Correspondence and financial records, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1855 May 15-1855 August 4
  • Folder 7: Correspondence and financial records, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1855 August 28-1856 April 4, 1898 June 8
  • Folder 8: Correspondence and financial records, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1865 October 10-1868 January 15
  • Folder 9: Documentos archivados [Minutes from meetings of the Council of Elders along with other documents], 1854-1875
  • Folder 10: Juntas de Mahamad [Meetings of the Mahamad], Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1858-1861
  • Folder 11: Letters and records of the “Anuanos,” Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1854, 1856 August-1859 September 22
Box 2
  • Folder 1: Libro de minutas, Cuerpo de Parnassim [Minutes of the meetings of the Mahamad and Parnassim], Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1862-1863
  • Folder 2: Libro de minutas, Number 1, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1875-1879
  • Folder 3: Libro de minutas [Minutes of the meetings of the Mahamad], Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1856-1858
  • Folder 4: Libro de minutas [Minutes of the meetings of the Mahamad], Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1879-1881
  • Folder 5: Libro de minutas, Number 3, Part 1, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1881-1889
  • Folder 6: Libro de minutas, Number 3, Part 2, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1881-1889
Box 3
  • Folder 1: Minutes of parnassim, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1864 September 12-1875
  • Folder 2: Records from Mikvé Israel Congregation [Regulations for sohet], undated
  • Folder 3: Register [Number 2 since the new regulations of 1875], Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1863-1864
  • Folder 4: Tratado de dinim de degollar [Treatise on the laws of ritual slaughter], Mikvé Israel Congregation, undated
  • Folder 5: Ultimas reuniones del colegio administrativo, Mikvé Israel Congregation, 1862 August 11-1864 January 21

Other Resources of Jewish Curaçao

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