History of Updates - 1999 Chronology
December 1999
Family page showing the major families by country of the first known ancestor.
Iranian Farhi The Farhi name was adopted by Ahmed Shah whose ancestor (Fatali) was Shah of Iran prior to the Pahlevis.
Corrections on Abady, Brownrout, Cohen, Eliahu Farhi, Dassa, Mifano, Milstein and Oren families.
New data on Moshe Lisbona (& descendants) families, a new Bulgarian branch Abraham Farhi
List of the Farhi soldiers from Bulgaria who died in action in the Balkan (1912-1913) and WW1 (1915-1918) Wars.
New pictures for Acher Davidoff-Farhi, Alice & Edith Farhi, Alice Farhi, Alice & Josua Farhi, Edith Farhi, Edith & Ruben Farhi, Fritz Farhi, Gabriel Farhi, Hilda Vogel, Isaac & Leontina Farhi, Josef Farhi, Joshua Farhi, Lily Farhi, Regina & Salomon Elias, Sabrina Farhi, Sara & Avram Kalderon, Sarina Sutton, Scott Wolfson, Stella Farhi and Sultana Kalderon.
Pictures of a tapestry owned by Iossef Farhi (Izmir) and a postacard showing a street in Damascus (date unknown).
New link to Gaston and Georgette Farhi website.October 1999
First Upload to www.farhi.org.
New pictures for Hillel Farhi, Tewfic Farhi, Farhi Bible
New data on Attie, Bigio, Hakim, Dayan families
New Links to other genealogy sites
August 1999First Upload to www.home.ch/~spaw9012
1986
First edition of the tree in print form.
1980-85
In the early 1980, I came across a genealogy tree prepared by my grandfather Dr. Hillel Farhi in the early 1940's. He documented the Farhi families which lived in the Middle East from the middle of the 18th century to the 1940's. I translated the original Arabic manuscript, added the Farhi that I could place on his chart and included the date of birth and death, country of residence, as well as some data on the wives and daughters.
From 1986 to 1988, I have actively tried to update the Farhi genealogy tree from the 1940's to date. Through mailings, personal travel and conversations with other Farhi from around the world, I have been able to add more branches and gathered more information and articles on the Farhi of Damascus. Some responded with joy, others with fear of a mysterious plot. From these conversations and documents, I have linked several families of living Farhi. However few links between the branches are missing but one thing is sure, all the Farhi I have met must have the same genes as they have common facial features that I would call unmistakably Farhi. Today, I know of 350 Farhi families living all over the world from Argentina to New Zealand.
After 1988, after moving to Singapore, I fell behind in the publication of a complete tree. Since my recent relocation to Switzerland, I come across the research and work of professional genealogists and university professors.
From a Jewish Encyclopedia, I found the first documented Farhi to be living in the south of France at Carcassone, Trinquetaille near Arles even though he was born in Florenza Spain. The Jewish community was then under the protection of the Pope at Avignon. Rabbi Ishtori HaParhi spent 7 years in Palestine around 1312. Most likely, other Farhi emigrated from Spain (after the Inquisition) to countries of the north rim of the Mediterranean Sea and settling in Anatolia near Izmir or Smyrna. Within the Ottoman Empire, several families moved north to Istanbul, Bulgaria and Roumania, other even traveled south to Libya and Tunisia.
In the Ottoman empire of the 18th century, the descendants of two Farhi brothers became the leading court bankers, civil servants and military officers to the Ottoman rulers. Most of them lived in what is now Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. These Farhi have been the subject of numerous books and historical documents.
I have no information on the Farhi from the 15th to the 18th century and limited data on families that lived in these countries (France, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, Salonika, Turkey and other Balkan countries, etc......)
I welcome any comments, additions and corrections you may have on the contents of the site as well as any information on your immediate or distant relatives.
If you care to complete and return the questionnaire (Family Group Form) for each member of your extended family (great grandparents, grandparents, parents, brothers & sisters or submit a hand drawn tree of your immediate family, I will be able to include your family data in future editions of the genealogy tree. Naturally, please feel free to download and mail these documents to anybody who can help trace the past or present history of the Farhi.
