Centro Isaac Campantón
Studying, Preserving, and Communicating the Jewish Legacy of City and Province of Zamora, Spain
lunes, 30 de noviembre de 2020
Auschwitz, by León Felipe (Tábara, Zamora, 1884 – Mexico City, 1968)
jueves, 22 de octubre de 2020
Jewish, and converso last names from Zamora, Spain
Jewish and converso last names from historical archive documents in Zamora, Spain. Most are
from the 11th to the 18th centuries, some are from inquisitorial
cases in Portugal, mainly Tras Os Montes, but with residency in
Zamora.
Spelling from the original source has been maintained, most are easily transcribable to modern orthography. When the last
name is not a direct reference to the city of Zamora, location is included
in parenthesis, as well as any other data or information to clarify context on the last name.
After the alphabetical list, there is a copy of Jewish and converso last names after 1492, drawn from a recent academic published article. For questions, comments or suggestions, please, email at centrocampanton@gmail.com
A - Abadías, Abad de Aula, Abelaben, Abemiver, Abenamar, Abenahypón
(Benavente)Abenjamil (Toro), Aben Baça (Baz, Vaz, Abençali), Abenbazar
(Fuentesaúco), Abenamías, Aben Farax, Abenrrós, Aben Rubí, Abenzón, Abna,
Abohaf (o Aboab), Ámbar, Alashkar, Alba (o Alvo), Albino (Bragança), Abolfazcan
(Castroverde de Campos), Alfón, Alonso, Alvarez, Alua, Arama, Aven Sento
B - Bellamín (Villapando), Beny, Berroy (Fermoselle), Bida, Bueno
C - Cabeça (Villalpando), Cañizal, Campantón (también Canpanton, Qanpanton,
Kanpanton), Cardero, Carvajal (Bermillo de Sayago y Benavente), Catalán,
Castro, Colodre (Toro), Cominete, Comineto (Benavente), Conde, Chamorro,
Cedillo, Corcos, Cordero, Çaragoça, Çalama, David (Toro),
D - De la Fuente (Fuentesaúco)
E - Estuñiga
F - Fernández
G - Galochero (Villalpando), Gambuayo, Garçia, Gazapo, Gómez (Toro), Gonçalez,
H - Habib, Ha-Leví (Toro)
J - Jambrina (1994 record from the Jewish Cementery in Madrid), toponym of a
town 10 miles Southeast of Zamora.
L - Lopes (Trancoso), Luna
M- Manrique, Marcos (Villalpando), Maldonado, Medina, Méndez (Coimbra), Meir,
Milano, Monzón (Alcañices), Musa
N - Naci, Melamed, Nuño de Fito
O- Oeb, Orabuena (Fermoselle), Ortuño (Bragança)
P- Paz, Peres, Pordomingo (Sayago), Portuguesa
R - Rico (Fuentesaúco), Rodríguez, Romi
S - Saba, Salón, San Román, Santa Ana
V - Valçina, Valencia, Valensí, Venialuo, Vida, Villalobos (Villalpando)
T- Tornero, Torralvo,
Z - Zamora (besides the city, also
present in Villalpando)
The following
last names along with their Christian ones after 1492 were copied from: Martialay,Teresa, “Conversos y
atribución de identidades conversas en tiempos de la expulsión de los judíos de
la diócesis de Zamora” en Amrán, Rica & Antonio Cortijo Ocaña, Eds,
Minorías en la España medieval y moderna, siglos XVI - XVII, eHumanista, 2017,
33-46
Abraham de Valencia (Fernando de Valencia)
Abraham aben Rubí (Maestre Fadrique)
Jaco de Medina (Fernand Pérez)
Mosé Obadías (Fernando de Miranda)
Rabí Salomón (Tomás)
Ysaque aben Farax (Pedro Osorio)
Yuçe Melamed (Luis Núñez Coronel)
Reyna Corcos (Isabel Osorio)
Abraham aben Baça (Juan de la Peña)
According to Martialay, the following names appear on the documents only as conversos
without their Jewish names or last names
Clara (wife of Tomás)
Isabel Fernández (widow of Simuel of Ámbar) and her daughters
Martín Alonso (two persons with the same name)
Fernand Gómez, his wife and children
Manuel Pérez
Isabel Fernández (widow of Simuel Gambuayo)
y her children
Alonso de Zamora
Juan de Zamora
Juan de Valencia
Maese Pedro
sábado, 22 de agosto de 2020
Why supporting Centro Isaac Campanton?
1- We are a group of community Scholars studying Jewish legacy in the region of Zamora, Spain, where Jews lived for more than a millennium
2- Lines of research include:
· Documented Jewish presence from the 10th to the 15th centuries
· Jews from Zamora in the diaspora
· Crypto Jewish communities from 1492 to the present
· B´nei Anusim memories and stories
· Homage to twenty-two antifascist fighters from Zamora incarcerated in Mauthausen
· Help families building their Jewish genealogies
3- Centro Campanton has organized eight international congresses (2013-2020) along with annual cultural events & activities related to Jewish life
4- Collaboration with local organizations, government and academic institutions to recuperate Jewish historic landmarks in the city and in the region
5- Centro Campanton have sponsored books publications, peer reviewed papers, and presentations at conference and events.
6- Current projects we are trying to advance:
· A Jewish Museum in Zamora, to also house the Center
· Publication of congresses proceedings
7- This website chronicles our major programs and if you need more information you can reach us via email at centrocampanton@gmail.com
sábado, 22 de febrero de 2020
Zamographies, July 2-3, 2020 (postponed)
DUE TO THE CURRENT GLOBAL PANDEMIC WE HAVE DECIDED TO CANCEL OUR FACE TO FACE ANNUAL CONGRESS, AND ORGANIZE ONE ONLINE SECTION ON THE SAME DATE OF JULY 1 & 2, 8:30 PM, Madrid Time. COME BACK TO THIS PAGE FOR MORE INFO. THIS EVENT TOOK PLACE ONLINE HAS PLANNED, VISIT OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR PICTURES AND VIDEOS. ![]() |
City of Zamora, Spain |
For updates in the coming months you should visit this page or if you have questions, you can email us at centrocampanton@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp to +34 609 740 116
*Transliterations are changes in the word with the same linguistic root (Zam), for example: Zambrano, Zamatto, Zamero, Zamerro, Zamie, Zamlug, Zamra, Zamor, Zamorani, etc. In Portuguese language, Z usually changes to S. Here reference for Zamora last name at The Museum of the Jewish People (click here)
To know more about our previous events, see the pages with summaries: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
lunes, 23 de diciembre de 2019
Tales of Sefarad
By Karen Sherman, La Crosse, Wisconsin

During Dr. Haim’s weeklong visit he gave numerous presentations throughout our area regarding the Sephardi ( Spanish Jews) and their Ladino language. The Thursday of his visit he had a meeting breakfast followed by a road trip to talk on Decorah’s Luther College campus before speaking to our La Crosse Congregation Sons of Abraham that evening, where he received a warm welcome and dinner.
During that visit Dr. Haim gave a brief talk of Ladino history accompanied with examples of Ladino music. He sang some songs a cappela, and others accompanied on guitar by spiritual leader Brian Serle along with some group singing.
The following morning courtesy of our public library, I attended a more extensive overview of the Sefardi, Spanish and Portuguese Jews who in 1496-7 had to go into exile with their culture of music, foods and Ladino language.
Using the basic "W" question Dr. Haim answered the them regarding the Sephardi, the Jewish Spaniards:
Where did they live? They lived on the Iberian peninsula but not limited to the Andalucia geographical location although it was the center of Jewish life in the Middle Ages close to Granada, the sea, in the capitals, towns and cities, Majorca, the Canary Isles, etc.
When did the Sephardi exist? Differing opinions as to whether it 586 BCE after the destruction of the first temple or the same date the 9th of Av in 70 AD after the destruction of the second Temple.
Who were the Sephardi? After the 15th century these Spanish Jews were numerous proud, cultural and creative ~600,000 of the world’s 1.5 million world Jews integrated Spain. They were culturally moderate without losing their identity.
During the muslim 7 centuries of rule after invading and conquering Spain (except for Asturias in the north) Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted. The Jews’s position was affected but treated better than living under the visigoths and even North African Jews also immigrated to the Iberian peninsula like Western European Jews who would eventually move where they could practice their Judaism in Iberia.
Between the 10th and the 12th centuries -the Golden Age- the Sephardi were accepted in society and flourished religiously, culturally, and economically. It wasn’t until the end of the era in the mid 12th century, and new Berber rule that Jewish persecution, and a massacre occurred in Granada, and both Muslims and Jews fled to Toledo which had been reconquered by Christian forces (~1086)
After the reconquest (of Toledo and other northern christian cities), the Jews translated Arabic texts into the Romance Languages and “also contributed to botany, geography, medicine, mathematics, poetry and philosophy.” Several synagogues were built in Toledo.
“The anti-Jewish riots of 1391 and the Alhambra Decree of 1492, as a result of which the majority of Jews in Spain (around 300,000) converted to Catholicism and those who continued to practice Judaism (between 40,000 and 80,000) were forced into exile, although many thousands including Moroccan Jews returned in the years following the expulsion.”
Ferdinand and Isabel united with nobility for the 1492 Inquisition forced the Jews to either convert to Catholicism, be killed (buried alive)/ be expelled. 1/3 of the Jewish population left Spain.
Jews had been previously expelled also from France and Germany in the 13rd and 14th centuries. In 1492 Spain Jews lost their property, careers, but their culture was left in tact. The same thing happened in Portugal 5 years later.
The Ottoman Empire controlled most of southeastern Europe from the 15th- early 20th Century… The Jews continued to begin new lives elsewhere.
What language did they speak? They spoke dialects of Iberian languages (Castilian, Catalan, Gallego, Leones...) but moved so much that their ladino language which is a mixture of Spanish and Yiddish served as a common thread. Language changes include j-ch, the change of the r and d sounds, u vs o. Those who speak Spanish can understand it due to its Spanish roots.
Some converts returned to Judaism in the 16th and following centuries all across Europe and the Americas. Other Sephardi who survived the inquisition, immigrated to Israel at the end of the 19th Century. Many people of Spanish descent are still discovering their Sephardi roots today.
In 2014, the descendants of Sephardi Jews, who were exiled in 1492, were offered Spanish citizenship, without being required to move to Spain and/or renounce any other citizenship, which they currently may have.”
Like yiddish, the future of the ladino language is in danger of disappearing. Dr. Haim reminded us the written word will live on forever…
lunes, 26 de agosto de 2019
Pictures from 2019 Congress in Jerusalem & Zamora
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Cartel del evento, realizado por el Ayto de Zamora, por primera vez desplegados en vallas en el centro y casco histórico |
Sesión Jerusalén, 21- 25 de Junio
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Para el primer tour nos reunimos en el hotel Agripas de donde salimos a visitar algunos de los barrios sefardíes como Ohel Moshe y otros |
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La visita estuvo animada por miembros de la comunidad hablante de judeoespañol. Aquí, en el centro, Aharon Palti, quien nos relató historias de su vida en Jerusalén |
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Visita a Yad Vashem, Museo del Holocausto, nuestra guía fue la especialista mexicana Hilda Fainsilber |
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Sesión de apertura en las Cuatro Sinagogas Sefardíes a cargo de Abraham Haim, presidente del Consejo de la Comunidad Sefardí de Jerusalén |
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La prof. Margalit Bejarano, Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén, presenta la conferencia inaugural |
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La poeta sefardí Margalit Matitiahu leyó varios de sus poemas dedicados a ciudades españolas donde existieron importantes juderías en la edad media, entre ellas León, Zamora, Cuenca y Madrid. |
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Joshua Mendes, director de S&P Central, habló sobre las comuninades sefardíes occidentales, sobre todo las que se establecieron en Inglaterra y Estados Unidos a partir de los siglos XVII y XVIII |
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En Jerusalén contamos con un reducido, pero altalmente comprometido público integrado por académicos, escritores y miembros de la comunidad de hablantes de judeoespañol. |
Panel en el Centro Sefarad - Israel, Madrid, 27 de Junio
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Nuestro grupo de Zamora Sefardí aprovechó la oportunidad para una foto colectiva en el Centro Sefarad-Israel |
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Concierto "Sefarad en el corazón de Turquía" de Mara Aranda, Museo Etnográfico de Castilla y León, Zamora |
Sesión Zamora, La Alhóndiga
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El docmental Adio Kerida (2002) de Ruth Behar, Universidad de Michigan - Ann Arbor, se presentó tanto en la sesión de Jerusalén como en Zamora, seguido por un conversatorio con su directora quien estuvo presente en la puesta en España. La película cuenta la historia de los judíos cubanos desde comienzos del siglo XX hasta inicios del siglo XXI, a través de historias autobiográficas de su autora en ciudades como La Habana, Nueva York y Miami. Interview with Ruth in English |
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Como cada año la mayoría de nuestro público es zamorano y también personas llegadas de otros países y regiones de España y Portugal |
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El historiador Suso Vila, presentó sobre las conexiones con Perú de una familia conversa de Tuy, Galicia |
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Alicia Valmaseda reflexionó sobre las relaciones linguísticas entre los idiomás leonés y judeoespañol |
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Conversatorio de Ruth Behar, Universidad de Michigan - Ann Arbor acerca de sus libros que estuvieron disponibles en la librería Jambrina, en Zamora. |
Mara Aranda: "La música conecta a los sefardíes con una patria por la que sienten nostalgia" (Leer)
"Aunque queda mucho de la mentalidad inquisitorial en la sociedad actual" (Leer)
sábado, 17 de agosto de 2019
A Jewish Path in Zamora
On March 6 I gave a presentation titled “Uncovering Jewish Zamora” at the La Crosse Synagogue in Wisconsin. When in 2010 I began to look into the subject of a Jewish presence in this Spanish city of the rocky northwest, crossed by the Duero River an close to the border with Portugal, I never dreamed of the results that my curiosity would lead to.
Apart from these two references which are to be found in most medieval history books which mention the subject of the Jews, there was not much more available at first glance on the Internet. This lack of information surprised me, as I personally already knew of at least one essay – dated 1992 – signed by the then-director of the Provincial Archive of Zamora, Florián Ferrero, in which bibliographies related to the Jews of Zamora are mentioned.
A few weeks later I read two books which I now consider to be classics on the subject: Juderías de Castilla y León (1988) (“Jewish Quarters in Castilla and Leon”), by Guadalupe Ramos de Castro, which has a section dedicated to the city, and El pasado judío de Zamora, (1992) (“Zamora’s Jewish Past”), by Prof. María Fuencisla García Casar, which offers a historical chronicle of the Jewish presence in the provincial capital. It was through these works – which from my present vantage point I consider to be in need of editing to update the information and perspectives on the subject – that a picture began to emerge.

A wider bibliograhy would be incomplete without authors like the late Benzion Netanyahu (father of the present prime minister), the late Haim Beinart, and Professor Abraham Gross of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, whose book on Abraham Saba is indispensable.
When I visited the city for the first time in 2010, I was shocked by the absence of references to anything Jewish. Since I have always been interested in Jewish literature and culture from Spain, and by then knew of something of Zamora’s prestigious position during medieval times, I was curious as to why this was the case. I asked a couple of colleagues and friends in the city, including a relative of mine, and some information immediately surfaced, along with various books and articles.

Following a fruitful conversation with Ferrero Ferrero I decided to write a paper on the subject. When I returned to the United States I started to research further and realized that I had stumbled upon something more complex and that I wanted to devote more time to delve into it. Additionally, the project was a good reason for me to return to Zamora, the birthplace of my paternal grandparents.
Located at the heart of Old Castile, this is a city known for its strong Catholic culture. Celebrations around saints’ days and the Virgin Mary are very common and dominate popular festivities all year long. More importantly, its 24 Romanesque churches (the largest number of any city in Europe) drive national and international tourism. So “Good luck with anything Jewish”, I can imagine my friends and local family members thinking back then.
However, in 2013, together with colleagues Genie Milgrom (author of My 15 Grandmothers) I organized the first international congress on “Zamora Jewish Life: History and Re-encounters” which was covered by The Jerusalem Post and local media, and caused ripples in Zamoran society. The result of the congress was a promise by then-mayor Rosa Valdeón, to signpost several areas of Jewish interest in the city. This promise was kept at the end of the 2014 congress.
Five locations, crucial to the Jewish history of a city (which until 2013 barely appeared to have any at all) are now marked by metal pillars erected by the Zamora Municipality as a direct result of the interest evidenced through the presence of these congresses in Zamora.
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Illustration included in the Bible of Cervera (Castile, and Leon, 1300) used to identified Zamora Jewish Quarters signpostings |
Looking towards our fourth annual event this summer, I am pleased to note that writer Gregorio G. Olmos, author of the book Yucé, el sefardí, 2016 – winner of the XXXIV Novela Felipe Trigo prize – has agreed to be our key note speaker. We also hope to see the author of the prologues of Olmos’ book: author José Jiménez Lozano – who received the renowned Cervantes Prize in 2002 – at this year’s congress.
Towards the end of 2013, and riding on the success of the first congress, the Isaac Campantón Center was created as a Jewish research center for Zamora, named after the sage Isaac Campantón (1360-1463), known as “the gaon of Castille.” The name was chosen because Campantón, as author of Darche ha-Gemara, or Darche ha-Talmud (“A Methodology of the Talmud”) he represents the flowering of the Zamoran Jewish Community in which he carried out his educational labor during the last century before the exile of the Jews from Spain.
Campantón’s book was published in Constantinople (ca. 1520), Venice (1565), Mantua (1593), Amsterdam (1706, 1711 and 1754) Vienna (1891) and Jerusalem (1981). And yet, the present residents of Zamora had never heard about him until our first congress, so far-reaching was the ethnic cleansing that occurred in Spain following 1492.
Throughout the 15th century, Zamora had attracted the most brilliant thinkers in Spain and Portugal, with Campantón being the guide of a generation and clearly responsible for the later transmission of Jewish tradition to the Sephardi Diaspora.
Among his students were Samuel Valensí, Issac Abroab II, Isaac de León, Jacob Habid and his son Leví, Moshe Alaskhar, Isaac Arama, Joseph Hayyum, Abraham Saba and the well-known converso hebraista Alfonso de Zamora, among others. No other Castilian or Leonese city can count such a battery of sages among its rosta of Jewish personalities, whose influenced can be found from Amsterdam to Safed and Istambul, and from Portugal to as far away as the Americas. A large number of the visits we get on the Campanton Center webpage are from Lithuania and parts of Russia, where the work of the Zamoran sage is well-known.
These meals, as well as others, which organized to introduce various Jewish holidays, are directed by Abraham Haim, president of the Sephardi and Oriental Communities of Jerusalem, a regular visitor to Zamora during the year.
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Judith Cohen (center), Mara Aranda (right) and Guy Mendilow (left) during a concert of Jewish Sephardic Music at the Theatro Principal of Zamora, 2014. |
On June 29, there will be a guided tour of the Tierra del Vino (Land of Wine) area, where, according to historic documents, the Zamoran Jews had their vineyards, and which today produces Protected Designation of Origin quality wines.
On June 30 there will be the usual tour of the Old and New Jewish quarters: Another annual activity which attracts many locals.
The congress itself will be held July 1. This year’s preliminary events will conclude with a Shabbat dinner at the Trefacio Hotel, where, as in earlier years, we hope to reaffirm the commitment to continue working for the recovery and value of the Jewish legacy of the city of Zamora.
The Isaac Campantón Center, which organizes international presentations and is a repository of all my investigation thus far can be found online at http://www.campanton.com/
*The writer, a Cuban American whose grandparents hail from Gema del Vino, a village in the province of Zamora, is a professor at Viterbo University, Wisconsin. In 2014 he was presented with Medal of the Four Sephardi Synagogues by the board of the Sephardi and Oriental Communities of Jerusalem for researching and publicizing Zamora’s Jewish past. His book The Jews of Zamora. An Annotated Chronology is scheduled to be published this year by Editorial Verbum in Madrid as part of the Hebrew Letters Collection. Jambrina can be contacted at centrocampanton@gmail.com