Lelio Cantoni (1802 – 18 January 1857) was an Italian

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

who served as the

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

from 1833 until his death.

Early life and education

Lelio Cantoni was born in

Gazzuolo Gazzuolo ( Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southwest of Mantua. The town had been a possession of Gonzaga family, the lord of Mantua, ...

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. In 1829, he enrolled at the newly established Istituto Rabbinico at

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, graduating as a

in 1832. After completing his studies, he was commissioned by the government to draft statutes concerning Jewish communities.

Career and death

In 1845, Cantoni formed the ''Committee of the Jewish Communities of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Piedmont,'' which gained him the support of

Massimo d'Azeglio Massimo Taparelli, Marquess of Azeglio (24 October 1798 – 15 January 1866), commonly called Massimo d'Azeglio (), was a Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist, and painter. He was Prime Minister of Sardinia for almost three years until succee ...

and

Roberto d'Azeglio Marquis Roberto d’Azeglio (1790–1862) was an Italian painter. Life Born in Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropo ...

. In 1848 war broke out with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and Cantoni recruited among Turin's Jews and organized volunteers into three battalions of sharpshooters to fight for Piedmont-Sardinia.Jews in the Army of the Kingdom of Italy
/ref> He advocated for the emancipation of Jews in the Kingdom of Sardinia which helped to bring it about in the Constitution of 1848, a development that later extended to united Italy. Following the emancipation of Jews in the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1848, Cantoni worked on organizing the internal administration of Jewish religious matters. He published his ''Nuovo Ordinamento del Culto Israelitico ne' Registrati'', in which he proposed the establishment of consistories by the government and outlined means of supporting them. Cantoni had contributed to '' Educatore Israelita'' and ''Archives Israélites.'' He supported initiatives to establish asylums for children as well as contributing to the founding of schools and societies in Turin. He had intended to create an organization which was to include Jewish communities and rabbis across Italy, however he died on 18 January 1857 in Turin before this could be realised.

References

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantoni, Lelio 1802 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Italian rabbis People from Gazzuolo Clergy from the Province of Mantua