Les Juifs de Bayonne–Saint-Esprit

The faubourg of Saint-Esprit, near Bayonne, welcomed from the sixteenth century onward crypto-Jewish refugees of Iberian origin, who formed one of the first Sephardic communities in France. Gradually returning to open Jewish practice, its members developed an active trade, particularly with the Iberian Peninsula and the colonies, and tradition attributes to them a role in the spread of chocolate to Bayonne. The community had its own synagogues and institutions. At the time of the Revolution, like the other Sephardim of the southwest, they gained full French citizenship early.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗