Family Tree Resources
Family Documents Available from our Archives
Since the founding of the Museum in 1997 hundreds of documents for our archives have been collected relating to the Jewish families of Rhodes. Since then, we have received requests from descendants of those families who are interested in obtaining information relating to their family history. Therefore, this page offers people copies of these various documents in order for them to have some rare artifacts to add to their personal genealogy. Some of these documents give a surprising insight of family history, while other documents are simple in nature yet quite interesting.
| Name | Date | Image of Document |
| Alhadeff, Abraham | 1922 |  |
| Alhadeff, David | 1922 |  |
| Alhadeff, Behor Rahamin | 1922 |  |
| Alhadeff, Raphael | 1919 |  |
| Amato, David | 1933 |  |
| Amato, Haim | 1931 |  |
| Benatar, Nissim | 1941 |  |
| Benatar, Nissim Haim | 1939 |  |
| Benun, Lucia | April 22, 1931 |  |
| Benveniste, Isaac | Oct. 29, 1923 |  |
| Capeluto, Reina Israel | Nov. 4, 1941 |  |
| Capelluto, Salomon | 1932 |  |
| Capeluto, Samuel | 1922 |  |
| Capouya, Joseph R. | 1906 |  |
| Capuya, Jacob | 1922 |  |
| Capuya, Rafael | 1922 |  |
| Codron, Leon | 1938 |  |
| Codron, Nissim | 1939 |  |
| Coen, Behor | 1922 |  |
| Coen, Rahamin | 1912 |  |
| Ergas, Giacomo | 1921 |  |
| Menashe, John | 1934 |  |
| Hanan, David | 1922 |  |
| Hanan, Haco | 1921 |  |
| Habib, Saul | 1936 |  |
| Piha, Behor | 1942 |  |
| Turiel, Isaac | 1938 |  |
To obtain copies of these documents please contact the:
Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation
10850 Wilshire Blvd. #750 Los Angeles, California 90024 USA info@rhodesjewishmuseum.org
The Source of the Alhadeff Family Name: This is described in a book about the History of the Alhadeff Family, called “Le Chêne de Rhodes” by Vittorio Alhadeff. A portion of that book has been translated by Rachel Alhadeff Roditi as follows:
As in all historical research, one must start from a sure and unarguable fact: our family originates from Spain, the country in which it resided for nearly four centuries and which it left in 1492 as a result of the edict of the Catholic kings which condemned all the Jews who refused, to convert to Christianity, to exile. …
They gave the name Alhadeff to our ancestors. Why? Professor Abraham Galante of the University of Constantinople, in his book on the “Jews of Rhodes and Cos,” has established beyond all reasonable doubt, the etymology of our surname, which according to him, comes from the Arabic al-khadif, which means lord, i.e., the Chief. Let us remember that under the British, the King of Egypt bore the name of Al-khadif. The mutation to Alhadeff is explained by the fact, pointed out by the erudite Prof. Galante, that Hebrew is a guttural language that also has no vowels.
Alkadif is pronounced Alhadeff in Hebrew. My father signed in Judeo-Espagnole, in either version.
Some facts must be pointed out. Firstly, the name Alhadeff is borne exclusively by the near or distant members of our family. Today all the Alhadeffs, scattered over the world are, in fact, originally from Rhodes and are, furthermore, to a more or less degree, attached to our family by ties of relationship. We are descended, therefore, ie. all the Alhadeffs, from one common ancestor, one of those Alhadeffs or Alkadifs who disembarked in Rhodes in 1525.
Secondly, we must emphasize the strange and certain fact that there is no Alhadeff in Spain and none anywhere else who does not come from our Island. This is truly a unique case. While innumerable members of Sephardi families – Mendes, Cremieux, Lopez, Alvarez, Toledo, etc – scattered over the world and who have an Arab, Italian or French clan name – they do not have in common any family relationship and come from hundred of different places. The Alhadeffs consist of a well-defined and limited clan; we are all, no matter where we live, in U.S.A., Canada, Australia or South Africa, born in Rhodes or come from there.
24 Responses to “Family Tree Resources”
August 24th, 2009
Michael Nerenberg:
I am looking for records from my great-grandparents, last name of Yerushalmi. I will be visiting Rhodes next summer (late May 2010), and would love to visit the shul and museum. Please let me know if you were able to locate any records from my family. Thank you so much.
August 25th, 2009
aron:
Hi Michael. I have 3 documents that I’m forwarding to your email address. They relate to: Abraham & Lunar Yerusalmi, Rafael & Violette Yerusalmi and Abraham and Miriam Yerusalmi. Have a good trip in Rhodes.
October 5th, 2009
Linda Roth:
Hi. I am going to be in Rhodes on the 16th of Oct. 2009. My grandfather was born there. I was interested to know if my family had any records or information. My grandfathers name was Victor Pizanti. If you have anything on the Pizanti family history I would love to know about it. Thank you.
October 12th, 2009
aron:
Hi Linda. I found a document about the parents of your grandfather. His parents were: Jacob Pizanti (born in 1873) and Bulissa Arughetti (born in 1880). I will forward it to you.
October 14th, 2009
גרסיה פונסקה:
שלום לכולם, כמו שכבר כתבתי בפורום, התוודתי לאתר זה ממש בימים האחרונים,תכננו טיול משפחתי לרודוס ממש כבר השבוע, 15.10.09, ולצערנו אין לנו את כתובת הבית או חנות הירקות שהיו בבעלותם של משפחת אבי, אולי מישהו יוכל עזרו לנו?
שמה של סבתי הוא גרסיה קורדובה, וסביר להניח שגם הוריה נולדו ברודוס, שאת שמם איני יודעת, אבי גם נולד ברודוס ושמו הוא אהרון בכר, ובנוסף יש לנו תמונות של המשפחה מלפני מלחמת העולם השניה, האם אפשר להעלות אותם לאתר?
תודה רבה מראש!!
December 9th, 2009
David:
Hi i am trying to find out as much about my grandmother Matilda Mizrahi as I can. Her father was Mussani Mizrahi. If you have any information about her or their family I would be very grateful.
December 10th, 2009
aron:
Hi David. I located their family registration which I’ll email to you. It shows that Matilda’s parents were Mussani Mizrahi (born in 1866) and Bulissa Benatar (born in 1880). It shows that Mussani’s parents were Isaac Mizrahi and Grazia Hazan. It shows that Bulissa’s parents were Jacob Benatar and Mazaltov Tarica.
December 10th, 2009
David:
Thank you so much Aron, this website has been so informative. I can’t wait to come to Rhodes and revisit my grandmothers heritage.
December 11th, 2009
Claudia Benhabib:
Hi. I’m visiting Rhodes on may/june 2010. My father Nissim Benhabib and my mother Sara Coen were borned there. Also my Grandparents: Fortuneé Soriano de Coen and Moisés Coen. I would like to know if you have any information of them. Thank you.
December 14th, 2009
aron:
Hi Claudia. I located their family registration which I’ll email to you. It states that the parents of Fortunee were: Elia Soriano, born in 1871 and Rosha Levi, born in 1880. It also shows that: the parents of Elia Soriano were: Musani Soriano and Mazaltov Soriano, and the parents of Rosha Levi were: Isaac Levi and Rivca Bili(?).
December 14th, 2009
Claudia Benhabib:
Thank you very much. Previously we had no records about the parents of my grandparents.
December 25th, 2009
Alex Franco:
I’m a big fan of all the work you’ve done for the Rhodes Jewish Museum. Could you give my email to David, I may have some information for him (Bulissa Benatar is from my family too).
January 3rd, 2010
Abraham Israel:
Hi, Felicitation! you did a great contribution for the community of Rhodes. I am looking for documents and records of my ancestors, the family Israel of Rhodes. Thanks to all of you.
January 8th, 2010
Dan:
Hello, I’m doing some researches for a school project and I’d like to have some information about my great grandparents such as birthdates if possible please. Their names were Mussani and Matilda/ Mazal Tov Franco (née Franco) and Mussani and Matilda/ Mazal Tov Franco (née Galante) as well. Thank you.
January 9th, 2010
aron:
Hi Dan. I’m sending you the family registrations by email.
It indicates that Mussani Franco was born in 1882 or 1883 and his parents were: Aron Franco and Rica Alhadeff. It indicates that Mazaltov Franco was born in 1893 or 1895 and her parents were: David Franco and Palomba Musafir. One of their children, Victor, was born in 1921 and moved to Buenos Aires.
Regarding the other Franco family: It indicates that a Moshe Franco was born in 1882 and his parents were: Aron Franco and Rachel Amato. It indicates that Mazaltov Galante was born in 1886 and her parents were: Moshe Galante and Joya Codron.
January 23rd, 2010
Betty Sue Codron Karp:
Hi Aron,
Firstly, I would like to thank you so much for the beautiful Rhodes calendar you sent me. Second, I would like to thank you for everything you have done for the decendants of all the families from Rhodes. No words can really express how I feel except that you have done such a fantastic job in handling such a monumental task.
I hope you can help me find a difinitive answer to a very important question. I am the Great Grand Daughter of “Chilbi” Nissim Codron (d 1906). Joya Codron (spouse of Moshe Galante) was his sister and my great aunt. (see last post) I do have a couple of names but now am not sure they are correct so if you can find anything please send it to me. Who were the parents of Chilbi Nissim and Djoya Codron?
January 25th, 2010
monie:
Hi i am trying to find out as much about my great granfather was born in rhodes in 1815 [i think] he went to israel 1837. i like to know more about my family, his name Eliezer Nahmias. if u can find any sources about my family Nahmias. u r doing a great job for the new generation to learn about ouer jewish history. thank you so much…monie
January 26th, 2010
aron:
Hi Monie: Our records show that there was an Eliezer Nahmias born in Rhodes who moved to Israel in 1810 and lived in Safed and worked as a donkey driver.
Also, on our cemetery page we display a tombstone of a Sarah Nahmias buried in the Rhodes Jewish cemetery. Besides that there are several Nahmias buried in Rhodes, for example: Moshe Nahmias in 1662, Yehiel Nahmias in 1669, Avraham Nahmias in 1765, Yakov Nahmias in 1824, Avraham Nahmias in 1832.
February 23rd, 2010
Nir Sidis:
Hello. i am looking for records and information about Moshe Sidis born at 1841/2 probably at Rhodos and family.
March 2nd, 2010
Marcus Stiller:
I was adopted in 1961 in Durban, South Africa, I am in the process of trying to find out as much info as possible about my birth parents. What I do know is that my Mother was Rebecca Benatar, her parents were Gabriel Benatar born 1890-1939 (Rhodes) who married Alice Bondi (Cairo) and went to live in Harare, Rhodesia. Gabriels parents were Isaac Benatar married to Mazeltov Cohen.
March 4th, 2010
aron:
Hi Marcus. I found 2 family registrations for your family. It indicates that Isaac was born in 1856 and his parents were Gabriel Benatar and Sol Benatar and that Mazaltov was born in 1861 and her parents were Nissim Cohen and Rachele Tarica. The second document shows that Alise’ parents were David Bondi and Esther Sion. I will send them to you in a separate email. Good luck.
March 5th, 2010
Ron Israel:
Hello cousins/familia one and all. What a joy to see all of this. I will try to gather what I have of my family, scan it, and send it along. I am the grandson of Morris N. Israel of Seattle, WA, who came to the US from Rhodes in the early 20th century, where he married my grandmother, Estrella Alhadeff (after the death of her first husband, my granfather’s brother, according to biblical commandment). We are descendants of Reuben Eliyahu Israel, 12th descendant of Israel family rabbis on Rhodes. I would love to hear from anyone to whom I am related–closely or distantly–who finds this website. I can be reached at risrael@sdccd.edu. I am going to my kitchen now to bake borechas! Muchos y buenos.
March 10th, 2010
Victor Pisante:
This message is for Linda Roth: Hi Linda, I am Victor Pisante your 3rd cousin twice removed. I live in Athens, Greece and would love to communicate with you and share all I know about the Pisante family from Rhodes. We are all descendants of Bohor Heskia Pisante. My email address is vic.pisante@gmail.com. warm regards, Victor
March 11th, 2010
Bryana:
My great-grandparents both came from Rhodes to Seattle sometime around 1910-1920. Their names were Matilda Shemaria and Albert Alhadeff (birthdate May 22 1898). I don’t know much about the Alhadeff side but I believe Matilda’s father, brother, and maybe sisters also came to the Seattle area. Unfortunately I don’t know any other family names at this point in my search. I would love any additional information or clues. Also, are there records in Rhodes of who left on what ship, etc?
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