Chief Rabbis of Turkey


	The Genealogical Research Division of

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Chief Rabbis of Turkey
Under Ottoman Rule and the Turkish Republic (1454-2007)

When the Jews expelled from Spain accepted the generous offer of Bayazid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and chose to settle in Turkey, the existing local Jewish community was already well organized and had a Chief Rabbi (Hakham Bashi in Turkish), the well know Rabbi Moshe Capsali in function from 1454 to 1497. After his successor Elia Mizrahi who was in the position during the years 1497-1526, most of the subsequent Turkey Chief Rabbis were descendents of the newcomers, the Sephardim.

Chief Rabbis of Turkey
Under the Ottoman Rule and the Republic (1454-2007)
Compiled by Mathilde A. Tagger
Surname	Given Name	Function Period	Title
Capsali	Moshe	1454 - 1497	Hakham Bashi
Mizrahi	Elia	1497 - 1526	Hakham Bashi
Comitano	Mordekhai	1526 - 1542	Hakham Bashi
	Tam ben Yahia	1542 - 1543	Hakham Bashi
Rosanes haLevi	Eli	1543	Hakham Bashi
	Eli ben Haim	1543 - 1602	Hakham Bashi
Bashan	Yehiel	1602 - 1625	Hakham Bashi
Mitrani	Yosef	1625 - 1639	Hakham Bashi
Benyaes	Yom-Tov	1639 - 1642	Hakham Bashi
Benyakar	Yom-Tov Hanania	1642 - 1677	Hakham Bashi
Kamhi	Haim	1677 - 1715	Hakham Bashi
Benrey	Yehuda	1715 - 1717	Hakham Bashi
Levi	Shemuel	1717 - 1720	Hakham Bashi
Rosanes	Abraham	1720 - 1745	Hakham Bashi
Alfandari	Shelomo Haim	1745 - 1762	Hakham Bashi
Yitshaki	Meir	1762 - 1780	Hakham Bashi
Palombo	Eli	1780 - 1800	Hakham Bashi
Benyakar	Haim Yaakob	1800 - 1835	Hakham Bashi
Levi	Abraham (Pasha)	1835 - 1839	Hakham Bashi
Haim	Shemuel	1839 - 1841	Hakham Bashi
Fresko	Moshe	1841 - 1854	Hakham Bashi
Avigdor	Yaakob	1854 - 1870	Hakham Bashi
Geron	Yakir	1870 - 1872	Hakham Bashi
Levi	Moshe	1872 - 1909	Hakham Bashi
Nahum	Haim (Effendi)	1909 - 1920	Hakham Bashi
Levi	Shabetay	1920 - 1922	Hakham Bashi
Ariel	Isak	1922 - 1926	Hakham Bashi
Bejerano	Haim	1926 - 1931	Hakham Bashi
Saki	Haim Isak	1931 - 1940	Hakham Bashi
Saban	Rafael David	1940 - 1960	Hakham Bashi
Asseo	David	1961 - 2002	Hakham Bashi
Haleva	Isak	2003 -	Hakham Bashi

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the tremendous contributions and lifelong dedication of Mathilde Tagger, z"l who made this index available. For many years, and right until her untimely death, Mathilde Tagger was a very close friend and collaborator with Jeff Malka. Together they worked to promote Sephardic genealogy research and educate the public about its enormous potential. Mathilde compiled this information based upon the original source material: Klarsfeld, Serge. Mémorial de la Déportation des Juifs de France. Paris, 1978.

In addition, we express our grateful appreciation to Dr. Jeff Malka for his monumental ongoing effort to collect and make accessible Sephardic genealogical information, and for his generosity in contributing his extraordinarily valuable collection to JewishGen.

The Jeff Malka Sephardic Collection