The Jewish Encyclopedia has several pages of
information about the Aboab name and several of its prominent family
members.
The encyclopedia's full-article on the Aboab
family can be found on the Jewish
Encyclopedia website. Below is a short excerpt from one edition of
the encyclopedia about the Aboab name:
ABOAB, Spanish family whose descendants
remained prominent among the Sephardim of the Mediterranean world as
well as in the ex-Marrano communities of Northern Europe. The origin of
the name is obscure. The family produced many outstanding Jewish
scholars in Spain (see Isaac Aboab I and II). After the expulsion from
Spain, it was found in North Africa, Turkey, Italy (where the form
Aboaf became common), and elsewhere. Some members of the family who
fell victims to the forced conversion in Portugal in 1497, preserved
the name in secret, resumed it when they reentered Judaism (sometimes
with the addition of their baptismal surnames, e.g. Fonseca, Dias,
Fallerio) and became outstanding in the communities of the Marrano
Diaspora.
The Jewish Encyclopedia can be found at most
synagogue libraries, as well as at most other Jewish organizations
(e.g. JCC's). It is also available on the web (click link above).
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Portrait of Isaac
Aboab de Fonseca as it appears in the Jewish Encyclopedia. Aboab was 81
when this portait was made in 1686.
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