Jacques Faitlovitch (1881–1955) was an anthropologist.

Jacques Faitlovitch (Tel Aviv, 1955)

Biography edit

An Ashkenazi Jew born in Łódź, Congress Poland, Faitlovitch studied Ethiopian languages at the Sorbonne under Joseph Halévy. He travelled to Ethiopia for the first time in 1904, with support from the French banker, Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

He travelled and lived among the Ethiopian Jews, and became a champion of their cause.[dubious ] In 1923 he opened a Jewish school in Addis Ababa.[1][2][3][4]

A Zionist, he settled in Tel Aviv in the 1930s and had links with Yitzhak Ben Zvi and with the revisionist movement. Faitlovitch bequeathed his valuable library to the Tel Aviv Municipality, with the collection now located at the Sourasky Library of the Tel Aviv University.[5]

A film about Faitlovitch's life was planned by Six Point Films. A film entitled Jacques Faitlovitch and the Lost Tribes, directed by French filmmakers, Maurice and Sarah Dorès, was screened in 2012 and later in various film festivals.[6][7][8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ Rosenthal, Donna (2003-01-01). The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780684869728.
  2. ^ Aderet, Ofer (2011-05-20). "A Polishman among Ethiopians". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  3. ^ Summerfield, Daniel (2003-01-01). From Falashas to Ethiopian Jews: The External Influences for Change C.1860-1960. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780700712182.
  4. ^ Parfitt, Tudor; Semi, Emanuela Trevisan (2013-04-15). The Jews of Ethiopia: The Birth of an Elite. Routledge. ISBN 9781134367689.
  5. ^ "Jacques Faitlovich". Beit Hatfutsot Open Databases Project, The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
  6. ^ "Jacques Faitlovitch and The Lost Tribes-Sheba Film Festival 2012 | BINA Cultural Foundation". www.binacf.org. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  7. ^ "Seeking Kin: Bringing Jacques Faitlovitch to the screen and relatives back in touch". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2013-05-03. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  8. ^ "Jacques Faitlovich and the Lost Tribes". primolevicenter.org. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  9. ^ "Film - Jacques Faitlovitch and the lost tribes | Limmud TLV לימוד תל אביב". Limmud TLV לימוד תל אביב. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-04-27.

Sources edit

  • Return of a Lost Tribe Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  • Emanuela Trevisan Semi, Tudor Parfitt. Jews of Ethiopia.
  • Photos and letters of Dr. Faitlovitch appear in the Koren Ethiopian Haggada: The Journey to Freedom (pages 72–73) – Waldman, Menachem (2012-02-01). Koren Ethiopian Haggada: The Journey to Freedom (in Hebrew) (Hebrew/English ed.). Jerusalem; New Milford, CT: Koren Publishers Jerusalem. ISBN 9789653012929.

External links edit