Abraham Furtado

Abraham Furtado (* 1756 in London, † January 29, 1817 in Bordeaux) was a French politician. Furtado came from Portuguese Marranenfamilie. He sat down since 1806 mainly as president convened by Napoleon Jewish notables for Jewish rights. At times, he was deputy mayor of Bordeaux.

Life

The parents of Abraham Furtado Portuguese Marranos were from Lisbon. During the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 his father was killed. The mother then went to London, where she openly confessed to Judaism. After the birth of her son, she first moved to Bayonne and then to Bordeaux, where Abraham went to school. After a short stint as a merchant he devoted himself to trade in land. In his spare time he worked on scientific issues.

As Malesherbes einrichtete a commission that would develop proposals for improving the situation of the Jews in France, and Fuentes was convened in this. Furtade who was close to the Girondists, was expelled from France in 1793, and he became one suitable. After the end of the reign of terror he returned to France.

1806 Napoleon invited Jewish dignitaries and experts to Paris, among them Furtado. From this meeting, the " Assemblée des Notables ," he was elected as president. The Assembly should find answers to the questions put to them about the relationship between Jewish and national law, each based on principles of Halacha and the Bible. Speaker of 9th February 1807 constituted Sanhedrin was Abraham Furtado. When the Sanhedrin was disbanded abruptly, the Assembly of Notables met again and Furtade served as secretary. 1814, after the overthrow of Napoleon, he joined the Royalists and rejected an office during the Hundred Days. 1815 put him Louis XVIII. as a eunuch in Bordeaux.