Jacob Safra (; 1891 – 27 May 1963) was a Syrian banker and patriarch of the

Safra family The Safra family is a prominent Brazilian family of Syrian Jewish descent. The Safras were bankers and gold traders originally from Aleppo. History During the time of the Ottoman Empire they were engaged in the financing of caravan trade between ...

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Jacob Eliaho Safra
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Jacob Eliaho Safra
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Jacob Eliaho Safra
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Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Biography

The Safra family was a merchant Jewish family originally from

, Syria, which historically made its money from financing the caravans of the Middle East. In the early 20th century, as economic conditions weakened the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, many Aleppines, including Jacob Safra, fled to Beirut and beyond. Despite reportedly being ‘attached to every house, every stone, every alley’ of Aleppo, Safra reluctantly left for Beirut in 1914 to establish a new branch of Safra Frères Bank, which was founded in the mid-19th century; later, Jacob established his first bank in the 1920s, building on the Safras' long experience in gold and currency exchange. With its base in Lebanon, the ' became the bank of choice for many of Syria's and Lebanon's rich Sephardic Jewish families, who trusted the Safras to manage their business and personal financial interests with care and discretion. The bank did business with agricultural, precious metal and merchant traders, and it offered both credit and savings accounts. The bank was later renamed ''Banque de crédit national S.A.L.'' (BCN) and is one of the five oldest banks in Lebanon. In 1952, he moved to Brazil with his four sons: Elie, Edmond,

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

and Moise. They founded a Brazilian financial institution in 1955.

Personal life

In 1920, Safra married his cousin Esther Teira (1904–1943). They had four sons: Elie, Edmond, Joseph, and Moise; and four daughters: Evelyn, Gabi, Arlette, and Hugette. In 1943, his wife died during childbirth at the age of 39. In 1950, he remarried to Marie Dwek (1911–1967).

Safra Square Safra Square (, ''Kikar Safra'') is a city square in Jerusalem. It is the site of the Jerusalem Municipality complex, which houses the municipal administration. Safra Square is located in a central part of the city, near the former seam line be ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

is named in honor of him and his wife.

References

1891 births 1963 deaths Brazilian bankers Brazilian Sephardi Jews Brazilian people of Syrian-Jewish descent 20th-century Sephardi Jews Syrian Jews Safra family Jewish bankers {{Brazil-business-bio-stub