Although some people claim that the roots of the Anzarut family reside in Aleppo and the Levant dating back to the 1800s, we the Anzarut descendants believe that previous to that date, our family sources reside in Gibraltar. The dominant old merchant families of Gibraltar were divided between those of Spanish, Genoese, Maltese and Moroccan Jewish descent.

There is also a strong possible connection prior to our Gibraltar roots which would source the family name to the Island of Lanzarote which is part of the Canary Island Archipelago...whence the derivation to Anzarut. This has also been confirmed by another cousin, Ezra Charles Anzarut of Melbourne who was decorated several times, and became the recipient of the French Legion d'Honneur accolade a few years ago.

According to yet another cousin of mine, Prof. Doctor Marcel Erdal of the Goethe University in Frankfurt (Germany) who is a specialist in Turkic, Syriac and etc..he states that it seems unlikely (as it was previously believed) that my Anzarut ancestors would just have appended that name to the name "Cohen", to differentiate the family from all the other Cohens who lived in Aleppo at that time. According to Marcel, the name Anzarut is neither Arabic nor Hebrew. It is of Syriac origin, and loosely translated is a plural form of "the Pure Ones"

The Anzarut descendants of Jacob are all British by birth and by descent. according to official documentation. Whenever we must renew our British Passports, we have to produce this affidavit which has the stamp of the British Foreign Office. This document states that our ancestor Jacob was born in Gibraltar in 1830.

Manchester 1843 : The first two permanent Sephardi merchants who settled there were Samuel Hadida of Gibraltar, and Abraham Nissim Levy of Constantinople. They became part of a group of eight merchants who settled in Manchester during the 1840s. These included apart from the above-named : Isaac Pariente of the Barbary Coast, Joshua Padr of Constanimople, Moses Ben Messulam of Constantinople, Myer Hadida, Samuel Ventura, Joseph Azula, Samuel Kutura of Corfu, Moses Bensieri of Gibraltar, Nathan B. Lyons of Turkey. (See one of the Books, "The Making of Manchester Jewry, 1740-1875 by Bill Williams.)

Aleppo 1850: Between 1850 and 1862 Aleppo was agitated by serious rioting against the Ottoman rule. The principal industry at that time was silk-weaving and cotton printing.

Because of the disastrous economic situation that ensued due to the political upheavals, my ancestor Jacob Anzarut ( 1830-1891) and his brothers decided to leave Aleppo, which was then their place of residence and sail for Manchester which was the hub of the cotton industry. They arrived there in 1861.

Britain had emancipated its Jews in 1856, and Jacob who was now 31 years' of age had therefore been able to acquire British citizenship before leaving for Britain on the fact that he had been born in Gilbraltar. We do know that Jacob had four brothers and two sisters:

Joseph :(b. c 1837 died in Manchester 24th August 1890.) He married Sarah Picciotto, and left no descendants.
Solomon : ( born 1847/48 died 20th August 1906)
Abraham : ( born 1838/9 and died c 21st Feb.1902)
Moses (?) Unnamed brother.
Bennot Sitt : (b - . Died November 11th 1915). and
Mazal Dwek (born 1846 died September 26th 1920) were the two sisters.

We know of these siblings because they were named in Joseph Anzarut's will.

The Anzarut brothers became quite prominent members of the Sephardi community in Manchester. In 1874, (according to an excerpt from the books on Manchester Jewry by Bill Williams,) my ancestors are cited as having been among the founding members of the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue in that city.

Jacob, his wife, and his only son Ezra happily settled in Manchester. Ezra was two years' old. When it was time for him to go to school, he attended Manchester Grammar School. The firm of Jacob Anzarut & Son came into being.

Full economic recovery came after 1880 when a railroad was built in Aleppo. The Turks had successfully quelled the uprising against them, and the economy boomed. This attracted the interest of several merchant families that had left the area to settle in Manchester, and some of them returned to the Middle East.

The Anzaruts did a great deal of travelling to and fro, from Manchester to the Middle East for business purpose. My great grandfather Ezra , eventually was introduced to a young lady in Damascus called Rachel Farhi. They married there, and had thirteen children. The second eldest son was my grandfather Leon David.

The Anzaruts were an extremely Orthodox Jewish family, so much so that my Gt. grandfather Ezra would build a synagogue as close to where he was living as possible, so that he would not have to go far during the Sabbath or the High Holy Days. In fact he built one near his country house in Aley (in the Shouf Mountains of Lebanon). He also built one in Camp de Cesar in Alexandria (Egypt), right across the street from the family villa. These synagogues were always built "In Honour of His Father Jacob".

I was told, that the Anzarut synagogue in Alexandria has now been turned into a mosque. The one in Aley had the interior bombed during one of the Arab/Israeli skirmishes. One of my relatives who was in the IDF took photographs of it. The exterior walls are still standing. In the middle of the floor in what was the Great Hall, he found the Anzarut alms box, which he took back to Israel. I was shown it when I visited the family there.

According to tradition, Gt. Grandfather Ezra and Gt. Grandmother Rachel were extremely philanthropic and hospitable, and the Sabbath and High Holy Days were a time for wonderful family gathering and togetherness. According to one of my father's cousins Ezra Charles of Melbourne (Australia, the dining room table could easily accommodate three families. My Gt. Grandfather Ezra was rather formal and aloof with his children, my Grandfather Leon told me. He was, however, very kind, and they loved him dearly.

My Gt. Grandfather was given the appellation of " Ezra El Kebir,' a tribute to his great philanthropy. According to Mr. Tomer, an Israeli historian who contacted me, Ezra el Kebir was the founder and first president of the Jewish community in Beirut. Mr. Tomer mentioned that he was writing a paper on the Jewish community in Beirut at the time my ancestor resided there. He discovered that the name of Ezra el Kebir kept popping up, and that he seems to have been a rather important figure of the time among his co-religionists.

Ezra demanded absolute respect. It was customary for his children and grandchildren to kiss his hand when they saw him. My Gt. Grandmother Rachel on the other hand, was a relaxed, nurturing and loving human being, according to her grandchildren. They all adored her, and whenever they visited the villa, they never left empty-handed, as she showered them with gifts.

In the very large stone country house in Aley, it was the tradition to keep the entrance doors open during the Sabbath, and the High Holy Days, when all the poor of the area, including the Druze inhabitants could come and eat to their heart's content. Nothing was ever stolen, in spite of the fact that all the silver and valuables were left on display. Not one of their Druze, etc.. Guests would ever have considered e pilfering anything. In fact, when I was in Israel many years ago, visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs, I met a Lebanese Jew who came from Aley. When I informed him who I was, he told me that Ezra and his son Leon (my grandfather) were so kind and philanthropic, that when they died, they must surely have gone straight to Heaven.

My grandfather Leon, went to live in Beirut where he assisted his father Ezra in the running of the family firm Jacob Anzarut and Son. My grandfather was a wonderful person, a very warm and kind man with a tremendous sense of humour. He was highly respected as he was also an extremely honourable man.

Leon, was considered a "young prince" in his youth. I was sent a photo of him visiting Edie Sellinger, a nephew (on my grandmother 's side) who had settled in "Palestine". My grandfather had travelled there with his valet, who made sure he was dressed to the nines, with a boutonniere in his lapel. The bottom of his trouser cuffs were elegantly turned up so he would not get them muddied, a silver cane in his hand, and of course a hat. Edie (the nephew) was holding a rope tethered to a cow that my grandfather had bought him.

Rokhama (Edie's wife) told me that when Edie decided to go to Palestine, he went to my grandparents, and asked them whether they would pay for his fare. They did, and gave him enough for a "First class" boat fare, as they did not know that there were other classes. Thanks to that, Edie and eight of his friends were all able to go by travelling "steerage".

Edie, who was an agronomist, ordered strawberry seeds from the U.S., and he and his friends started a moshav in Kfar Azar. He tested the soil in that area, and found that it was perfect for growing strawberries. Kfar Azar is famous in Israel for its delectable strawberries.

Caroline was a Viennese lady whose family had emigrated to Turkey for business reasons. Leon was in Constantinople on a business trip for the family firm of Ezra Anzarut & Sons. He was invited to dinner by a family called Mizrahi who had two daughters. My grandmother happened to be there, and they fell in love, which was not at all what the Mizrahis had planned . They were married in Constantinople. My grandparents went back to live in Beirut, where Caroline adapted to the Anzarut Sephardi ways to which she added her own Viennese touch.

A distant cousin of mine found a photograph depicting my grandparents as bride and groom in Constantinople. They were sitting in an open car. At the wheel was one of my grandmother's cousins Sigmund Weinberg (who owned the first two cinemas in Istanbul, and the first photo-shop (this was something quite revolutionary in those days.) Next to him was another of my grandmother's cousins, Carl Carlman (who owned the first department store in Istanbul on the Grande Rue de Pera) This was during the time of Sultan Abdel Hamid who refused to allow cars to be on the streets in Turkey unless they had a horse harnessed to it. This is a photograph of the first car in Turkey, and the photograph shows them surrounded by Turks wearing a fez and gawking at the satanic monster that moved without a horse.

Just before World War One was declared, Caroline & Leon held a lavish ball in their villa in Beirut. All the British diplomatic staff were invited. Leon asked the British Ambassador whether it would be wise for the Anzaruts (being British) to stay on in Beirut as this was part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Turks would be siding with Germany. They were assured that they would be perfectly safe.

In the wee hours of the morning Leon was taken away and interned by the Turks. War had been declared. Caroline rushed to the British Embassy. There were Turkish guards everywhere. The Embassy was deserted. The staff had fled the country, directly after attending the Anzarut ball. Caroline, who spoke fluent Turkish bribed some officials who then released Leon . They rushed home, packed some belongings and left, after asking the owners of a neighbouring villa to please keep an eye on their property while they were away. No sooner had they left, than those same neighbours went in and plundered the place.

After the war ended, my grandparents returned to Beirut for a visit, and to check on their property. Their neighbours informed them that the Turks had taken everything. Upon visiting these neighbours, they discovered that was not the case.

My grandparents and their two little boys, Edgar and Raymond settled in Alexandria where the family business continued. My Aunt Eileen was then born. Their first villa was eventually purchased by the sister of the King of Egypt.

They then built a second one. My grandmother told me that they had ordered marble from Cararra (Italy) especially, and that it was customary for good luck to put a great deal of money where the excavations were, before laying the foundations of a house. She used to laugh and say that if anyone ever dug under the villa they would find a treasure trove that would make them rich. I was told by one of my cousins, that it was the second house after Gt. Grandfather Ezra's house in Egypt to have a master- bathroom, or "ensuite". My grandmother was an avid gardener, in spite of the fact that they had gardeners in their employ, she would often go there herself and weed, and prune the roses. Something that was unheard of then. She was also a gourmet cook, and insisted on going to the Kitchens and putting her two bits worth, much to the shock of the employed cook and other kitchen help.

They tended to employ a whole family to work in the villa. The husband would be the chauffeur, brothers would be gardeners, etc. The milkman would come with his cow to the back door and milk the cow, while the scullery-maid gave him the milk jugs to fill. If my grandparents needed more milk, the milkman had to fetch another cow. They had ice-boxes then not refrigerators. Huge blocks of ice would be delivered on a donkey cart by another hawker. Fruit and vegetables were also delivered to the house. The vendor would stick a very sharp knife in a watermelon and remove a small piece to taste. If the scullery maid did not find it ripe, he would do the same thing to another one until she was satisfied.

Edgar, Raymond and Eileen, lived in one part of the house, whereas the adults lived in another wing. The three children had the dubious pleasure of being brought up by very strict governesses, and spoke fluent German, French and English.

My grandfather prospered greatly, and life was good. He had initially trained as a physician. That truly was his first love. He was, however, forced to give it up in order to help his father Ezra run the family business in the Middle East. He regretted not being allowed to practice medicine to his dying day. I remember his look of sadness when he told me that.

The Second World War broke out. Rommel was about an hour or so away from Alexandria. To this day, like all the Jews, Gypsies and etc. living in Egypt we say "Thank you Monty". Many years later Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Suez crisis fiasco occurred.

For the second time, my grandparents being British (like all the rest of the family) had to pack their bags and leave all their memories and belongings behind. The British Government had issued warnings that all British nationals should leave immediately. They arrived in London, and resided in Belsize Park.

When my grandfather died, my grandmother came to live with us in Orpington(Kent). My grandfather, in his senior years in Alexandria, had become a rabbinical judge. He was an extremely erudite and well-travelled man. His kindness and philanthropy were well known, and he was highly respected for his sagacity. My grandmother was a wonderful and dignified lady, a highly intelligent linguist with a tremendous sense of humour.

My father Edgar, was a banker by profession, and attended the Universite de Nancy. He was asked by my grandfather to return to Alexandria for business reasons. That meant giving up half way through his studies. My father met with the Dean of the university and said he had to finish his degree in one year as he could not stay for the two remaining years. The Dean told him to give up, and that it would be an impossible task. My father did not give up. He graduated the next year, and came first of the whole university with an average of 99,9%. His name is inscribed as a "laureat" on a large panel on a wall in one of the colleges of Nancy University.

He eventually reorganised and managed the money-losing Ionian Bank in Cairo. The Bank turned a profit in one year. We later discovered when we were living in England, that the Ionian Bank had been a front for British Intelligence in the Middle East, which explains why the Egyptian Secret Service so enjoyed bugging our telephone, and visiting our home during the early hours of the morning, and etc. However, thanks to my mother's journalistic contacts, we were always warned ahead of time that there would be a "perquisition" by the Egyptian Secret Police.

For some time now my mother had suspected that Bickham Sweet-Escott et al were Agents for MI.6. They came from Ionian Bank H.O. in London on an" inspection" tour of the Bank every time there seemed to be a political eruption in the Mediterranean area. They also seemed to know absolutely nothing about banking (much to my father's exasperation). One day, when we were living in Cairo andBickam etal were really enjoying their whisky at a cocktail party my parents were giving in their honour, my mother looked at them with a smile and told them "You are British Intelligence, aren't you?" There was a sudden silence, and then a lot of blustering "Don't be ridiculous Sophie. hahahaha". They never returned to Egypt. I just wonder, if my mother was able to put two and two together how close were the Egyptian Authorities? My parents left just in time. They would have been treated as British spies.

It was only in England that we found out for certain. In their obituaries, in The London Times, it was stated that Sir Bickham Sweet- Escott and Robin Brooke (director of the Ionian Bank in London) belonged to MI.6.

Just before the Suez fiasco my parents left Egypt with one suitcase, a blanket each and an Egyptian 10 pound note. I had already been sent to England and lived in Whitley Bay (Northumberland) with relatives. My parents rebuilt their life, and bought a home in Orpington(Kent). The Swiss Merchant bankers relentlessly pursued my father until he finally agreed to join their ranks. He was instrumental in buying and reorganising merchant banks in London for their account. When he died, the Swiss Merchant bankers were unable to replace him with anyone, and had to give up their plans in London at that time.

My mother Sophie was a journalist. She first worked for the Journal Suisse, and then became Manager of Agence France Presse in Alexandria. She had many scoops to her credit including the one of her interview with King Farouk just before he was deported, and last but not least, the one of Mrs. Rommel when she visited the grave-sites at El Alamein battlefield. I still remember my mother's hilarious description of Mrs. Rommel, who was able to burst into tears on demand, whenever the cameras were aimed at her.

Thanks to her journalistic political contacts, even among members of the Egyptian Secret Service, my mother was instrumental in helping with the release of several members of our family interned by the Egyptian authorities who suspected them of being Zionists.

Sophie, my mother, left Orpington after my father's death, and joined the ranks of NATO Supply Centre in Chateauroux (France). She was eventually put in charge of the Contracts Division there. This division was moved to Luxembourg, where she retired and has been living for the past 35 years.

I am an artist. I attended St. Martin's School of Art in London (England) before my marriage. After the "exciting and enriching" life that I experienced due to all the political upheavals that I encountered, as well as their aftermath, living in Beaconsfield (Canada) may sound very boring to some but it really isn't. Every so often we have to put up with a " Quebec separatist government" and what we all affectionately nicknamed their "neverendum referendums".

My husband Laurence and I, have three sons. Daniel who is a consulting engineer like his dad, Ian who is a periodontist with a practice in Boston, and Joel who is an emergency physician in Montreal. They are avid skiers, sailors, and squash players. Daniel and his wife Laurie have twin daughters Rebecca and Carly, and Ian and Rachel have a son called Joshua and a daughter Ariana. Joel and his wife Miriam have a little girl called Sasha.

On 19th April 2000, I had been surfing the web and discovered The Jewish Telegraph address in Manchester. As I was looking for the descendants of my grandfather's older brother Jacques, I put a request in for any of his descendants to please contact me. The response was one of excitement and great warmth.

One of these came from Johnny Sueke who asked whether there were any more Anzaruts. He also inquired as to whether I knew of a Raymond Anzarut who had been a film director and producer. Uncle Ray is my father's younger brother. Another response came from Marlene Gould. I gave my newly-found cousins phone numbers of various Gt. Aunts (in their late 90s), and Johnny and his cousin Marlene had a family reunion with members of our family in London. Marlene's mother, my father's cousin Marjorie (91) came down specially from Manchester to meet her Aunt Helen who is 98. As Marlene described the event, the dining table was groaning with food, and they all had a most wonderful time. Apparently Gt. Aunt Helen remembered her niece Marjorie quite well however Cousin Marjorie had to admit that she did not remember her Aunt Helen.

Another bonus to the family reunion was that our eldest son Daniel happened to be in London at the same time, and was invited to dinner by Marlene and her husband David. Daniel met cousin Marjorie as well as Johnny, his wife Minoo, and their nephew Michael Sultan. It was very moving for me to know that some of the descendants of Jacques, and one of the descendants of his brother Leon were all sitting together, reunited in London.

Edna Anzarut Turner
December 2000, Rev March 2008

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