Inquisitions and expulsions According to historians Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers, the Pallaches "were a family of Hispanic Jews who settled in Fez after the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492." José Maria Abecassis cites historian
Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo (–1180), who wrote:
Morocco '' by
Eugène Delacroix,
Louvre,
Paris The Jewish presence in Morocco goes back to
Carthage, fared moderately, and often prospered under Muslim rule (e.g., the
Marinid dynasty). From Morocco, they filtered into
Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain, 711–1492) but began to return during the
Spanish Reconquista, which mounted in the 10th century. The Spanish-Portuguese expulsions and inquisitions sent Jews back to Morocco on a larger scale. Resultant overcrowding in Moroccan cities led to tension, fires, and famines in Jewish quarters. Moïse Al Palas (also Moses al-Palas Isaac Pallache was a rabbi in
Fez, Morocco, first mentioned in
takkanot (Jewish community statutes) in 1588. His sons were Samuel Pallache (–1616) and Joseph Pallache. Isaac was married to a sister of Fez's grand rabbi,
Judah Uziel; his nephew
Isaac Uziel became a rabbi of the Neve Shalom community in Amsterdam. In 1646, Samuel Pallache (1616–???), son of Isaac Joseph Pallache and nephew of David Joseph Pallache, married Abigail (born 1622), sister of Judith Lindo.
Turkey The first reported Pallache in Turkey (then, the Ottoman Empire) dates to 1695, when Isaac Pallache of Leghorn (
Livorno, Italy) wrote a letter to the Dutch consul in Smyrna (1695) Jacob's son became grand rabbi Haim Palachi (1788–1868), two of whose sons, Abraham (1809–1899) and Isaac, or Rahamim Nissim (1814–1907), also became grand rabbis there. According to the
Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World: In 1863, a London-based Jewish newspaper noted "the chief rabbi of Smyrna, Palacci, a venerable, octogenarian, seems to command universal respect". (Arabic:
Balaatshi)
department store. In 1904, the company's name was Palacci Menasce et Fils. Shortly thereafter, it had become Palacci Fils, Haim et Cie, located on Muski street near the old Opera House. Also in 1907, newspapers mentions "Mr. Vita Pallacci, the distinguished chief of the house of Palacci Pils, Halm and Co., which is well known in Europe and America" as president of the "Ahemia Society". By 1909, the Palacci had partnered with A. Hayam, In 1910, "Albert Palacci & Co." appears as a Cairo firm interested in trading in silk. At an unclear date, "Palacci, Menasce & Co." are recorded as having stores in Cairo,
Tanta, and
Mansoura. In 1916, "Palacci, Fils, Haym, and Co." were listed among "persons who have been granted licenses to trade in Egypt, with the British Empire, and with Allies of Great Britain". The same year, "Palacci Fil, Haim & Co." filed a suit against "Mohamed Moh. Sélim". When Vita died in 1917, his oldest son Albert Vita Palacci succeeded as manager. The store had offices overseas in Paris (1922) to purchase draperies and hardware, while its Cairo offices exported household essentials and perfumes. By the mid-1920s, Palacci had branches on Fuad Street and in Heliopolis. By 1927, it had begun to advertise seasonally or special occasions like weddings, school supplies, carpets, brass beds, shirts, ties, and false collars. but restored a more French version "Palacci Haym & Cie" as well as the second store in Heliopolis (alternate version "Palacci Haim & Cie.") in the first quarter of 1929, reverting again to "Palacci Haym & Co." In 1933, the family of Mahmoud Abel Bak El Bitar had a lawsuit against "Pallaci, Haym & Co." By 1935, the Palacci department store had experienced financial difficulties. In August 1937, the original department store of les "Grand Magasins" Palacci, Haym & Co. on Mouski Street burned; the family did not rebuild. The
1948 Cairo bombings, which included the Ades and Gattegno stores, did not deter the family; both Albert Vita Palacci and Dr. Victor Palacci appear in a 1955 ''Who's Who'' for Egypt, while Henry Menahem Palacci in Cairo appears in the mid-1950s (along with an Albert Palacci in Belgium). By the time Nasser had nationalized all Jewish-owned assets in Egypt (1958), most Palacci had left Cairo in diaspora–yet "Palacci Fils, Hayem et Cie." remained listed as a business in Cairo as late as 1959.
Ahemia Society As community leaders, the Palacci supported Jewish causes inside and outside Egypt. In 1907, Vita Palacci was serving as president of
la société de bienfaisence a "Hachemia" (from Hebrew
Hakham: הכם ḥaḵam, "wise"?): During 1916–1917, "Palacci Fils, Haym & Co." was one of numerous donors in Egypt to the "Yeshibat Erez Israel (Rabbinical Institution) for the Refugee Rabbis from the Holy Land". This group collected 120,427.5
PT (piasters), routed to its treasurer, E. Anzurat. Donors were from Alexandria, Cairo, "suburbs," England, Australia, Canada, S. Africa, India, France, and the U.s.. The local collector in Cairo was Rabbi Haim Mendelof. The Palacci donated 500 PT, as did Maurice Calamari, I.M. Cattaui & Fils, Le Fils de M. Cicurel, Jaques & Elie Green.
Cairo residences The Pallache family settled around the main home of Vita Palacci, a villa ("Palacci-Naggar-Ades Building") at No. 23 Ahmed Basha Street (Ahmad Pasha Street) in
Garden City, Cairo. Two of Vita Palacci's grandchildren, Eddy and Colette, have written memoirs of their childhoods in Cairo (and Paris), which document Sephardic Jewish life in Cairo in the 1930s.
Congo venture: La Coupole '' in
German East Africa (
World War I)In the mid-1940s, Henri Palacci founded "La Coupole" store in
Leopoldville, (now Kinshasa)
Belgian Congo.
Other countries The Pallache had established themselves in Jamaica by the 19th century in the sugar trade. In 1825,
the London Gazette posted notice of a partnership that included Mordecai Palache and Alexander Palache "of Kingston, in the Island of Jamaica." A prominent Palace at this time was the Honorable John Thomson Palache. {{cite book {{cite book By 1855, a "Vita Palacci" appears in Argentina. {{cite book In 1911, Camille Palacci, daughter of the late Aaron Palacci, married Benjamin Bigio in Manchester, U.K. {{cite news
21st century Continued expulsions and diaspora have dispersed the Pallache family to many countries in the Americas, Europe, and farther afield. By the 20th century, the Pallache established itself within the U.S. The family of American mineralogist
Charles Palache came to California from Jamaica. {{cite web Numerous Palacci came to the United States in diaspora from Turkey and Egypt, including
Colette Rossant. ==Synagogues==