Jewish History as "Historia Patria": José Amador de los Ríos and the History of the Jews of Spain.

AMADOR de los Rios, Jose, 1818-1878; CATHOLIC Church; SEPHARDIM; JEWISH question; JEWS; NATIONALISM & historiography; LIBERALISM; SPANISH history; JEWISH history; HISTORIOGRAPHY; HISTORY

This article describes the pioneering work of José Amador de los Ríos, author of the first modern history of the Jews of Spain. Through discussion of his life and work, the article illustrates how Spain's Jewish past became an object of debate in the nineteenth century, as Spanish scholars and politicians placed historiography at the service of rival political causes. It also explores some of the ways in which the Sephardic past figured into emergent questions of national identity and the so-called Jewish Question in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. The recovery of the Jewish past in Spain was marked by deep ambivalence, as the debate concerning Jewish absence and presence in Spain was marked, by a nationalism that, though liberal, remained firmly Catholic [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jewish Social Studies is the property of Indiana University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)