Nominal List of the Jews of Oran (1530-1656)

BACKGROUND

This is a database that combines various lists of Jews that lived in Oran found in Spanish Archives. The sources were from the Archivo General de Simancas, in Valladolid Guerra Antigua, liasses 3137 et 3140, liasse 324, liasse 786, Biblioteca Zabalburu, boïte II, document 23, Archivo Diocesano de Toledo, liasse » Oran 1600-1730 », Biblioteca Zabalburu, boïte II, document 6.

The Jewish community of Oran is believed to predate the Roman era. After the Spanish expulsion of 1492, many Sephardic Jews settled in Oran, creating a vibrant community and maintaining trade links across the Mediterranean. For much of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish crown held the city and permitted a Jewish community in Oran to remain, as they were valued for their commercial success and role as mediators between Spanish Christian and Muslim communities. In 1669, however, the community was expelled, with many families moving to cities in Italy and France. The community was re-established after the Ottomans (Regency of Algiers) retook control in 1792. This once-thriving population, which constituted over a fifth of the city's inhabitants in the mid-19th century, almost entirely emigrated to France and Israel following Algeria's independence in 1962.

DATABASE

This database includes the names of 182 Jews and their families who lived in Oran between 1530-1656. The language of the database is French. It is based on the Listes nominatives des juifs d’Oran (de 1530 à 1656) and combines that with the following lists:

• Liste des juifs d’Oran couverts par la protection de l’Empereur de 1530 (soit environ cent vingt-cinq personnes) (liste établie par Chantal de la Véronne ; cf.bibliographie)
• Liste des juifs d’Oran non couverts par la protection de l’empereur en 1530 (soit environ soixante-douze personnes)
• Liste des juifs d’Oran, établie en 1591 (soit environ 125 personnes)
• Liste des chefs de famille établie en 1613 (soit un total de deux cent soixante-dix-sept personnes) (données et calculs établis par Beatriz Alonso ; cf. bibliographie)
• Liste des juifs naturels d’Oran, établie en 1646 (soit au moins cent trente-cinq personnes a+b)
• Liste des juifs étrangers » forasteros » identifiés en 1646
• Liste des chefs de famille juifs réunis à la synagogue d’Oran en 1656.

The fields in the database are:

• Surname
• Given Name
• Place of Birth
• Age
• Spouse's Name
• Father's Name
• Comments
• Source

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The information contained in this database was transcribed by Eric Feinstein, Jewish Cemeteries Coordinator of the French Research Division of JewishGen. It was originally put together by Edgar Attias and Mireille Attias, vice president of the Cercle algérianiste of Drôme-Ardèche.

November 2025