Jacob Safra

Jacob Safra (Arabic: يعقوب صفرا; 1891 – 27 May 1963) was a Syrian-Lebanese banker and patriarch of the Safra family.[1][2][3][4] The Safras were bankers and gold traders engaged in the financing of trade between Beirut, Aleppo, Istanbul and Alexandria.[5]

Jacob Safra
Born
Jacob Elie Safra

1891
Aleppo, Syria
Died27 May 1963(1963-05-27) (aged 71–72)
São Paulo, Brazil
NationalityLebanese[1]
OccupationBanker
Spouses
  • Esther Teira Safra
  • Marie Dwek Safra
Children8, including Edmond Safra, Joseph Safra, and Moise Safra

Biography

The Safra family was originally a merchant Jewish family of northern Lebanon, which historically made its money from financing the caravans of the Middle East.[6]

When the Ottoman Empire fell apart in 1918, Jacob Safra, opened the family bank in the 1920s in Beirut, building on the Safras' long experience in gold and currency exchange.[7] With its base in Lebanon, the Banco Jacob E. Safra 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.[8] The bank was later renamed Banque de crédit national S.A.L. (BCN) and is one of the five oldest banks in Lebanon.[7]

In 1952, he moved to Brazil with his four sons: Elie, Edmond, Joseph and Moise. They founded a Brazilian financial institution in 1955.

Personal life

In 1920, Safra married his cousin Esther Teira (1904–1943).[9][10] They had four sons: Elie, Edmond, Joseph, and Moise; and four daughters: Evelyn, Gabi, Arlette, and Ughette.[11] In 1943, his wife died during childbirth at the age of 39.[9] In 1950, he remarried to Marie Dwek (1911–1967).[9][12]

Safra Square in Jerusalem is named in honor of him and his wife.[13]

References
  1. Jacob Eliaho Safra (1954), Jacob Eliaho Safra (1955) and Jacob Eliaho Safra 1956) information from the National Archives, Rio de Janeiro. Scan of Jacob Safra's Brazilian entry visa on 1954, 1955 and 1956 on familysearch.org
  2. Romero, Simon (8 December 1999). "INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; The Safras of Brazil: Banking, Faith and Security". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  3. Zenner, Walter P. (2000). A Global Community: The Jews from Aleppo, Syria. Wayne State University Press. p. 102. ISBN 0-8143-2791-5.
  4. "Celebrities in Switzerland: Edmond Safra Biography"
  5. "Edmond J. Safra". The Shema Yisrael Torah Network. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  6. Anthony, Andrew (2000). "The strange case of Edmond Safra". Theguardian.com.
  7. "Banque de Credit National- History". Bcnlb.com.
  8. Gross, Daniel (2022). A Banker's Journey: How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire. Radius. p. 30-31. ISBN 978-1635767858.
  9. "2020 Annual Report for J. Safra Serasin" (PDF). jsafrasarasin.com. 2020.
  10. Farhi, Alain. "Joseph Safra / Esther Teira Safra". farhi.org – Les Fleurs de l'Orient. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  11. Simonetti, Eliana (12 August 1999). "Final trágico – Um dos maiores banqueiros do mundo, Edmond Safra morre asfixiado num assalto". Veja (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Caou-se com uma prima, Esther, e teve oito filhos: quatro homens, Elie, Edmond, Joseph e Moise, e quatro mulheres, uma delas, Evelyn, mãe do antigo dono do banco Excel Econômico, brasileiro, Ezequiel Nasser. As outras três são Gabi, Arlette e Ughette
  12. Farhi, Alain. "Joseph Safra / Marie Dwek". farhi.org – Les Fleurs de l'Orient. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  13. Safra Square outside Jerusalem City Hall on YouTube
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