Abraham BENOLIEL ¹

  Notas de investigação:

Abraham Ben 'Oliel e Issak Ben 'Oliel (irmãos), estes dois judeus marroquinos de Rabat, fixaram-se na Boa Vista a partir de 1850 para aí se estabelecerem como mercadores, tendo o filho de Abraham, David, construído em princípios do século XX em Sal Rei, a grande casa de comércio Ben 'Oliel, a qual até 1950 fazia a maior parte do comércio da Ilha da Boa Vista.

To the best of my knowledge, all Benoliel from Cape Verde are descendants from Esther Benathar Benoliel and Abraham Benoliel.

Isaac Benoliel, a brother of Abraham also emigrated from Rabat to Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, but he was a bachelor.

Recently I met someone from New Bedford that claimed to be a descendant of Isaac Benoliel. If that is correct, Isaac may have had children out of wedlock, an unknown fact to me.

Abraham Benoliel and his wife Esther Benathar Benoliel were from Rabat, Morocco and emigrated to Boa Vista. This island of the Archipelago of Cabo Verde, was at the time an overseas Territory of Portugal. Around 1860, not long after an epidemic of yellow fever that devastated the island.

In those days Boa Vista was considered in having the best sea ports and therefore serving ships going to South Africa and South America.

Abraham was active in the import - export trading and soon got a prominent position in that business. It is claimed by the historians that the Benoliel had the monopoly of that commerce.

My ancestors claimed to be Sephardim, expelled from Toledo, Spain, at the end of the 15th century.

Esther died February 6th 1891. Esther and Abraham are buried in Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, in the Jewish cemetery, a seperate area of the local cemetery. The children of Esther and Abraham, all born in Boa Vista, were:

1. Simmy Benoliel de Carvalho married to Antonio Miguel de Carvalho, also born in Boa Vista. At the beginning of this century Simmy and her husband moved to S. Vincente, another island of Cabo Verde. Simmy died in S. Vincente in 1929. The children of Simmy all born in Boa Vista, were:
1.1. Felicidade Benoliel Carvalho Martins, married to Vincente Martins, a director of Finance in Portugal. Felicidade and Vincente died in Lisbon, Portugal. She had 5 children:
1.1.1. Ivette Benoliel de Carvalho Martins, born January 6th 1917, lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.1.2. Maria Helena Carvalho Martins da Cuhna Belem, born July 15th 1919, died in Angola.
1.1.3. Iva Carvalho Martins Pagan, born February 17th 1921, died in an accident in South Africa.
1.1.4. Aurelio Carvalho Martins, born March 24th 1923 lives in Lisbon, Portugal
1.1.5. Augusto Carvalho Martins, born April 9th 1925 lives in Portugal.
1.1.6. Maria Fatima Carvalho Martins Junquera, born March 12th 1927 lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

1.2. Carolina Carvalho Benoliel, married Salomao Benoliel, born October 5th 1893, died in Lisbon, Portugal, March 1st 1978. Buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon.
Carolina had five children:
1.2.1. Esther Benoliel da Costa Nunes, born Febuary 7th 1915 in S. Tiago, Cabo Verde. Esther lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.2.2. Abraham Benoliel, born August 27th 1916. Lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.2.3. Israel Benoliel, born Febuary 5th 1917. Israel lives in Fairfax USA.
1.2.4..Rebecca Benoliel, born May 19th 1918 in Sao Tiago. Lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.2.5. Luna Benoliel Wahnon, born December 31 1920. Lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

1.3. Clementino Benoliel de Carvalho, married to Edith Neuman Carvalho, born September 1st 1897 married to Edith Neuman Carvalho, died December 5th 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal and buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon. Clementino had five children:

1.3.1. Arlette Wahnon Benoliel de Carvalho Tavares Ribeiro, born in S. Vincente, and lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.3.2. Simmy Neuman Benoliel de Carvalho, born in S. Vicente and lives in Switzerland.
1.3.3. Ricardo Smith Neuman Benoliel de Carvalho, born in S. Vicente and living in Israel.
1.3.4. António Miguel Smith Neumann Benoliel de Carvalho, born in S. Vicente and lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

1.4. Judith Benoliel de Carvalho Wahnon, married to Jacob Wahnon, born July 6th 1895, died in Lisbon Portugal, Febuary 9th 1966 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon. She had three children:
1.4.1. David Wahnon, born November 9th 1921 in Lisbon, Portugal. Lives in Montreal, Canada.
1.4.2. Joel Wahnon, born in Lisbon, Portugal 1942, living in Sweden.
1.4.3. Samuel Wahnon, born in Benguela, Angola in 1932, and died in Benguela at the age of 11 months, victim of a tropical disease.

1.5. Aida Benoliel de Carvalho Vera Cruz, born January 10th 1902. Died in Lisbon, Portugal October 31st 1953, and buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon. Aida had two sons:
1.5.1. Daniel Benoliel de Carvalho Vera Cruz, civil engineer, married to Vera Calheiros Vera Cruz, born August 28th 1928, in S. Vicente, Cabo Verde, died in Lisbon August 5th 1996. Daniel was a renowned engineer and amongst other achievments he projected and supervised the enlargement of Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Daniel had two children.
1.5.1.1. Aguinaldo Calheiros Vera Cruz and
1.5.1.2. Clotilde Calheiros Vera Cruz.

1.6. Julio Smith Benoliel de Carvalho, businessman, married to Maria Yvonne Antunes Pereira de Carvalho, born September 7th 1899 and died in Lisbon, Portugal in January 17th 1982. He is buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon.

1.7. João Vitorino Benoliel de Carvalho, businessman, married Adelina de Carvalho, born December 1903, and died November 1993. Joao had four sons:
1.7.1. David Benoliel de Carvalho, electrical engineer, born in S. Vicente, Cabo Verde and lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.7.2. Daniel Benoliel de Carvalho, Captain in the Portuguese Reserve Army, born in S. Vicente Cabo Verde, lives in Lisbon, Portugal.
1.7.3. Antonio Benoliel de Carvalho, born in S. Vicente, Cabo Verde, and lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

1.8. Alexandrina Benoliel de Carvalho, Married to Carlos Pinto Wahnon, born in Boa Vista in 1911 and died in Lisbon, Portugal in 1976. Alexandrina had two daughters:
1.8.1. Rachel Alice Benoliel de Carvalho Wahnon Cohen, businesswoman, widow of Graciano David Cohen, born in S. Vicente, Cape Verde, on 1935 and lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Rachel has a son, 1.7.4.1.1. Jose Carlos Wahnon Cohen, civil engineer,
and a daughter
1.8.1.2. Cristina Wahnon Cohen Kolinski, a businesswoman.

1.8.2. Simmy Benoliel de Carvalho Wahnon Marques da Silva, married to Manuel Marques da Silva, born in S. Vicente on 1934 and lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Simmy has four children, three of them are daughters.

2 Augusto Benoliel de Carvalho, born in Boa Vista in 1901 and died in 1919, a victim of a pneumonia epidemic.

3 Rachel Benoliel, died in Lisbon, Portugal on March 1st 1946 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Lisbon. She had no children, but after her brother Simao died she took care of two of his children, Samuel Benoliel and Laura Benoliel.

4 Mery Benoliel Levy, married to Jaime Levy, lived and died in S. Tiago, Cabo Verde. Mery had two sons and one daughter:
1. Bento Benoliel Levy, lawyer, married to Maria Helena Levy, born in S.Tiago, Cabo Verde. Lived in Lisbon, Portugal, where he died. Bento has been the delegate from Cabo Verde to Portugal National Assembly from 1966 to 1974. He had two children, a son, 1.1. Jose Manuel Levy, married and died in Lisbon, while graduating at the Medical School. A daughter, 1.2. Fernanda Levy Varandas, married and living in Lisbon.
2. Leonel Benoliel Levy, graduated from Merchant Marine School and retired from Portugal's Overseas Administration in Mocambique. He married Aida de Carvalho Levy, lives in Estoril, Portugal.
3. Barbara Benoliel Levy

5 - Jose Benoliel, businessman, married, born September 24th 1870, lived in Boa Vista, died July 7th 1923 in S. Tiago, Cabo Verde and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery. He has two children:
1. Franklin Benoliel, agricultural engineer, born in 1899 in Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, studied in Lisbon, Portugal and Italy. Died in Coimbra, Portugal June 3rd 1934 . Though he died very young, he is recognized in the Portuguese Encyclopedia for his work as University Professor and for introducing new techniques for the culture of rice in Portugal.
2. Irene Benoliel Secca, businesswoman, born in Boa Vista. Her business is in Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, but she lives most of the time in Lisbon, Portugal.

6 - Leao Benoliel, businessman in Brazil, born June 22nd 1864 and killed while visiting Lisbon by a stray bullet on October 5th 1910 in the Republican revolution.

7 - Simao Benoliel, born 1880, businessman in Guinea (Bissau), died in Lisbon, Portugal, April 10th 1918. He had three children:
1. Sarah Benoliel, born in Guinea and died in Lisbon, Portugal.
2 .Samuel Benoliel, Customs broker, married to Armanda Benoliel, born in Guinea, lived in Guinea but died in the Tropical Hospital in Lisbon, Portugal.
3. Laura Benoliel, born in Guinea, Bissau, lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

8 - Salomao Benoliel, businssman, married to Carolina de Carvalho Benoliel, born March 21st 1874. Died Lisbon, Portugal November 11th 1946 and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Lisbon. Carolina e Salomao had five children listed above under Carolina Carvalho Benoliel. Salomao emigrated to Luanda, Angola, when he was 14 years old and starting from zero, homeless in the streets of Luanda, went to the jungle, at 100 km away from the next shettler, built an organization for planting and trading cotton, which provided him with the financial resources to return to Cabo Verde and establish two large commercial houses there plus a larger one in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1916 he was a voting member of the Jewish Community in Lisbon and in the same year he founded one of the two largest Portuguese Shipping Companies. When the wheels started running in the wrong way, he returned to Cabo Verde in 1928 where, with the help of his nephew Miguel Smith Benoliel de Carvalho, he started an import commercial house in S. Tiago.

9 - David Benoliel, businessman, married to Beatriz Carvalho Ben Oliel, born November 24th 1872 lived in Boa Vista, Cabo Verde. He died in October 15th 1950 and is buried in Boa Vista in the small Jewish Cemetery.

Corrections -
The name is João Vitorino Benoliel de Carvalho (Not Severino ).

He has five sons:
David
Daniel
Carlos Alberto
Antonio Ezequiel
José

The first name of the wife of Carlos Pinto Wahnon is Alexandrina (Not
Alexandre).


Simmy Benoliel de Carvalho Wahnon Marques da Silva is no more alive.

Best regards

J.Benoliel


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Shalom / greetings and congratulations on your Benoliel from Cabo Verde. What a wonderful thing is the Internet.

I have recently received from Arquivo Historico Nacional Cabo Verde, the Baptism record of my maternal Great Grandfather, Lourenco Joseph Senna. Lourenco arrived in Victoria Australia in 1872, married Bridget Sheahan (nee Mulrennam) in 1882. There were 2 male and 5 female children from the marriage. Lourenco was a seaman/mariner. His naturalization papers of 1885 show his father Joseph was also a seaman. Lourenco died in Melbourne Australia in 1916. My family has always believed Lourenco was of Portuguese Jewish descent, but to date I have not been able to confirm this.

Transcription of Lourenco's Baptism Record: " No.12

Lourenco filho mat de Anna Goncalves Ao fim deste termo compareceu Jose Pedro de Senna e me disse que o recente baptizado e seu filho e me pediu que no fim lhe declara para o tempo constar o paracho (Assinatura) Jose Pedro de Senna.

Aos vinte e tres dias do mes de Janeiro de mil oitocentos cinquenta e tres nesta Igreja Matriz de Sao Joao Baptista na Ilha Brava, li os exorcismo e pus os santos oleos a Lourenco filho de Anna Goncalves que nasceu em nove de Dezembro o anno de proximo passado e foi baptizado em casa por motivo de molestia e foram padrinhos Lourenco Antonio Benoliel e D.Amalia de Senna Benoliel e para contar fiz este termo em que me assigno. "

Therefore we have officially recorded evidence of Lourenco Antonio Benoliel and D.Amalia de Senna Benoliel in Llha Brava, Cabo Verde, on January 23, 1853.

Hope this record is new to you, we know what a thrill it is to receive new material. My BIG question - Do you have any other reference to de Senna or Goncalves? Would you believe D.Amalia de Senna Benoliel was most likely, or definitely of Jewish birth, ? as we assume Lourenco Antonio Benoliel would have been Jewish. And can you place him in the family you have recorded?

I am most interested in receiving any information. I will await your reply before entering a specific query in your Guestbook. Again, sincere congratulations on "The Benoliel from Cabo Verde", I am most impressed.


Tenho ainda o registo de Joshua Benoliel, Fotógrafo
Nasceu em Lisboa, a 13 de Janeiro de 1873;
e morreu no mesmo local em 3 de Fevereiro de 1932.
Jornalista e fotógrafo português, descendente de uma família hebraica estabelecida em Cabo Verde. Foi praticamente o criador em Portugal da reportagem fotográfica. Fez a cobertura jornalística dos grandes acontecimentos da sua época, acompanhando os reis D. Carlos e D. Manuel nas suas viagens ao estrangeiro, assim como a Revolução de 1910, as revoltas monárquicas durante a República, assim como exército português que combateu na Flandres durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial. As suas fotografias caracterizam-se pelo intimismo e humanismo com que abordava os temas.
Trabalhou sobretudo para o jornal diário de Lisboa Século e para a revista ilustrada publicada pelo mesmo jornal Ilustração Portuguesa, de 1906 a 1918 e de 1924 até à sua morte, mas também para o Ocidente e o Panorama. A Ilustração a partir de 1906, com o aparecimento da 2.® série, e sob a direcção de Silva Graça, deu um grande impulso ao foto-jornalismo.
Publicou, com prefácio de Rocha Martins, o Arquivo Gráfico da Vida Portuguesa, obra em fascículos ilustrada com fotografias de 1903 a 1918. ²

  Notas sobre o nascimento:

Fonte: registo nº 111, de 9 de Junho 1868; página 153 de "passaportes", microfilme 008089876 do AHN, em Family Search

  Eventos de relevo na sua vida:

• Morava a 9 Jun 1868 em Boavista, Cabo Verde. Fonte: registo nº 111, de 9 de Junho 1868; página 153 de "passaportes", microfilme 008089876 do AHN, em Family Search

• Sinais particulares: a 9 Jun 1868,. •
Altura: -
Rosto: -
Cabelo: castanho
Olhos: -
Côr: branca

Fonte: registo nº 111, de 9 de Junho 1868; página 153 de "passaportes", microfilme 008089876 do AHN, em Family Search

Abraham casou com Esther BENATHAR. (Esther BENATHAR nasceu em Rabat, , Rabat-Salé, Morocco, faleceu a 6 Fev 1891 em Boavista, Cabo Verde ² e foi sepultada em Boavista, Cabo Verde.)