(KETHUBAH). Marriage Contract, on paper. Uniting Isaac Amzalak to Grazia Levi

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

14th August

Bahia (Brazil)

1844

Text in Hebrew, Aramaic and Italian. Several signatures in Sephardic cursive script: Isaac Amzalag, Samson Levi, Judah Assouline, et al. All within multi-colored floral-adorned arch. Large cartouche with abstract of the document composed in a gilt calligraphic hand

Isaac Amzalak, a Portuguese Jew, arrived in Bahia, Brazil sometime between 1829 and 1832. In 1827, he had received from the Municipality of Lisbon a medal of gratitude for services rendered during the epidemic of yellow fever, however he travelled to Brazil on the advice of his doctors who recommended a tropical climate to cure his rheumatism. In Bahia, the able Amzalak advanced rapidly in society. In years to come, Amzalak would play a pivotal part in the life of the Brazilian Jewish community, moving as he did in the circles of the Imperial Court in Rio de Janeiro. The marriage of Isaac Amzalak and Grazia (Hanna) Levi took place after the bride arrived in Bahia from her home in Trieste, Italy, after a sea voyage of three months. The appearance of Italian in the Kethubah was for the benefit of the Italian-speaking bride. (Biographical information supplied via: www.sefarad.org, noting this very Kethubah)