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HASAN Origin of surname

HASAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from Jewish communal functionaries or titles.

Has(s)an/Haz(z)an is the title of a congregational reader of prayers, or cantor, officiating in a synagogue. Like Rabbi and Cantor, it became a widespread family name with several variants. In the 10th century, Hasan and Hussein are mentioned in Baghdad, and Hassan is recorded in the Spanish city of Cordoba. In the 11th century, Hazzan is found in Germany, and Hasan in Yemen. Hacen is documented in 13th century Spain. The 16th century records Hason in Turkey, and Hazzan in Volhynia. Eastern European variants are usually based on the spellings Chazan and Chasan, to which the Italian diminutive form Chasanetto is closely related. German forms include Chahsen and Chassen. but as a Jewish family name it belongs to the Hazan/Hasan group.

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Hasan include the 10th century Karaite scholar Ben Mashiah Hasan, also known as Hussein, who lived in Baghdad; the 11th century wealthy Yemenite Jew of Persian origin, Abu Ali Jepheth Ibn Bundar Hasan who was Nagid in Aden; and the 20th century Finnish business executive and community leader, Faivels Hasan.

Yvonne Hasan (1925-2016), artist, professor and art historian, born in Bucharest, Romania. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, specializing in aesthetics, art history earning a PhD. Her teachers included the painters M.H. Maxy (1895-1971) and Alexandru Ciucurencu (1903-1977). Hasan was a founding member of the Romanian Union of Visual Artists. She was a professor of art history at the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest. She is the author of courses, studies, art history articles, including the volume Paul Klee si arta moderna (“Paul Klee and Modern Art”). Hasan had eight solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.

Saragossa

Zaragoza; Hebrew: סרקרסטה, סרקסטה

City in Aragon, N.E. Spain; capital of the former Kingdom of Aragon.

21st Century

From seven synagogues of the Middles Ages in Saragossa the location of two are known, the largest synagogue La Mayor and the Sinagoga de los Callizos or Sinagoga de Cehán,

A Spanish historian wrote a description of a Saragossa synagogue before it was converted into a church. The Saragossa synagogue’s painted menorah and biblical textual reference to the Temple are associated with the ancient center of Jewish worship in Jerusalem.

Megilat Saragossa scrolls from the 17th and 18th century are held by Columbia University. An old and new Jewish quarter, a Jewish castle and butchers shop have been attested in Saragossa. The Patio de la Infanta is a Renaissance structure with Jewish features.

History

There was an important Jewish community in Saragossa during the period of Muslim rule. Jews served as advisers in the court of the tolerant Tajib dynasty during the 11th century, among them, Abu Ishaq Jekuthiel b. Isaac of the wealthy Ibn Hasan family, killed in 1039. A cultural and intellectual center in the 11th century, Saragossa was the residence of the philologist Jonah Ibn Janach, the physician and philosopher Menahem Ibn al-Fawal, the poets Levi b. Jacob Ibn Altabban and Moses Ibn al-Takkanah, the poet and linguist Joseph Ibn Chisdai, the Talmudist and dayyan David b. Saadiah, and the philosopher Bachya b. Joseph Ibn Paquda. The Jews constituted 6.3% of the total population of Saragossa (which was under 20,000) during the 11th century.

From the time of Muslim rule until the eve of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the Jewish quarter in Saragossa continued to be situated within the city walls of the Roman period, in the southeastern section. The buildings of the community included a series of synagogues: the Great Synagogue, the Small Synagogue, the Engravers' Synagogue which appears to have been known as the Bikkur Cholim synagogue. One of the principal occupations of the Jews of Saragossa was garment making. The draperos held an important place in the community, coming directly after the personalities who had influence at court. Tailors, engravers, mantle-makers, furriers, goldsmiths, wool- cleaners, metal workers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, embroiderers and cobblers later organized their own benevolent societies. There were also landowners in the community who owned fields and vineyards outside the city, cultivated by daily workers and slaves. This occupational structure persisted until the expulsion.

In 1294 a rumor spread in Saragossa that some Jews had murdered a Christian child and extracted his heart and liver for magical purposes. The municipal authorities appointed an expert on magic to investigate the matter, while in the meantime the Jews succeeded in finding the murdered child in a neighboring city. King James II severely condemned the municipal authorities for the disaster which they had been about to bring upon the community.

In 1342, on the basis of a privilege granted by Pedro IV, the community of Saragossa proclaimed a cherem upon anyone who obtained a tax exemption or accepted a position in the community as rabbi, shochet, scribe, albedin, or emissary with the assistance of a royal privilege.

The Black Death struck a severe blow at the community of Saragossa. Hardly one-fifth of its members survived. On October 27, 1348, King Pedro instructed the procurador general of Aragon and the other royal officials in Saragossa not to compel the community to pay taxes until the plague ceased and new arrangements for tax payment were agreed upon.

The cultural and general progress of the community in the early 1360s was largely due to the la Cavalleria family. Don Vidal de la Cavalleria, one of the Kingdom's notables, leased the minting of gold coins in the Kingdom in conjunction with a Christian of Saragossa, an agent of the King, and leased the taxes in collaboration with another Christian. He was well versed in Jewish learning. The most outstanding member of the family was his son and the son-in- law of Vidal: Judah Benveniste de la Cavallería, who, from the late 1370s was involved in many of the Kingdom's affairs and carried on important commerce in Barcelona and other places. His house in Saragossa was a center of Hebrew culture and he signed state documents in Hebrew. Solomon and Benveniste maintained friendly relations with Nissim b. Reuben Gerondi and apparently supported Isaac b. Sheshet Perfet, who arrived in Saragossa in about 1372-73 and was active there for 13 years. The Responsa left by Isaac b. Sheshet yield much information on the way of life of the Jews of Saragossa. In 1396, with the consent of the government, Chasdai Crescas instituted regulations for the community of Saragossa. They show a pronounced tendency to strengthen the authority of the Muqaddimun and enable them to impose their decisions without undue delays. As early as 1399 the Queen, however, found it necessary to change these regulations.

The consequences of the Disputation of Tortosa 1413-14 affected the Saragossa community in the same way as it had the other communities in Spain. Its emissaries to the disputation were Zerahiah Ha-Levi and Mattathias Ha- Yitzhari; they were accompanied by the interceder Don Vidal, the son of Don Benveniste de la Cavalleria. Some of its prominent members, including members of the de la Cavalleria family, converted to Christianity, among them Benafos, who assumed the name of Fernando, and Vidal, who took the name of Gonzalo, and received a position in the Kingdom's administration. The conversion of Vidal had wide repercussions. His teacher, Rabbi Solomon da Piera, also converted with him. The government had already realized the undesirability of the conversos, whose numbers were increasing, continuing to reside in the same quarter as the Jews.

The community underwent a lengthy period of decline because there were no notable leaders after the Tortosa Disputation; its administration was concentrated in the hands of the craftsmen and simple folk who were incompetent to manage its affairs.

An event that occurred on Shevat 17, 5420 (1420), was subsequently celebrated by the community as the "Purim of Saragossa". The Jews of the city were accused by an informer of carrying empty torah cases at the reception being held in honor of the King; however, they were found to contain torah scrolls and the Jews were spared punishment. A special scroll describing this miracle was also written. According to a cautious estimate about 200 Jews yearly converted to Christianity between 1420 and 1430. To assist the community's recovery associations were established for the support of the poor, for torah study, and others. Endeavors to organize relief for the poor and the persecuted, brought a certain revival in community life. In 1457 Alfonso granted the community of Saragossa a for ten years, granted a general amnesty, and guaranteed his protection against seizures by church tribunals and against imprisonment and physical seizure by officers of the Kingdom.

When Ferdinand inherited the crown of Aragon in 1479, his policy toward the Jews of Castile was also applied in Aragon. Ferdinand explained that even a papal bull required the consent of the crown if it was to be applied. He ordered the Jews to wear a distinctive badge and instructed the municipal officials to see that the crown's instructions concerning the Jews were carried out, and to assure their protection. In 1486 the King granted the request of Torquemada and ordered the expulsion of the Jews from Saragossa. The general decree of expulsion of the Jews was published there on April 29, 1492. The inquisition officials took upon themselves to supervise the preparations for the expulsion. They issued an order prohibiting the purchase of properties from Jews, but the Jews of Saragossa apparently did not heed this prohibition and proceeded with the transfer or sale of their properties. During the whole of this period, Christian notaries were fully occupied with drawing up inventories of the properties of those who were about to leave; these lists give much information on the situation of the Jews of Saragossa during the last stage of the community's existence. It is assumed that the Jews of Saragossa departed in the direction of the ports of the Kingdom, but some of them presumably went to the Kingdom of Navarre.

Although there were Jews in Saragossa who deliberately or willingly abandoned Judaism, many after their conversion continued to observe the Jewish precepts and were Jews in every respect. Several of the conversos in Saragossa became renowned. In 1450 Pedro de la Cavalleria completed his apologia for Christianity. At trials held by the inquisition during the 1480s, testimony was brought against him that he was accustomed to eat in Jewish houses, that he participated in the grace after meals, and that he had spoken scornfully of Christianity. It was he who brought to castile the pearl necklace which Ferdinand had sent to his betrothed, Isabella. At the beginning of May 1484, Torquemada appointed two inquisitors to the tribunal of Saragossa. The tribunal established its seat outside the city in the Aljaferia fortress and on May 10 the first auto-da-fe took place and four conversos were burned at the stake. It nevertheless appears that the tribunal proceeded rather slowly in its task.

Leading conversos of Saragossa were related to the local nobility including the royal family by marriage, and in general the conversos in the city had close social and commercial relations with the Christian population. The government realized that in Saragossa a cautious policy should be adopted over the converso problem. On September 14, 1485, an incident took place in Saragossa which had repercussions throughout Spain. On that day, the inquisitor Pedro de Arbues was assassinated in the cathedral of Saragossa while engrossed in his prayers. The converso community, as well as the Jews, were threatened with total annihilation, but the municipal and royal officials suppressed the riots and began an energetic search for the culprits. In December 1485 the inquisition tribunal resumed its activities and applied justice to the strict letter of the law. From then onward, monthly autos-da-fe were held, and many conversos were burned at the stake. On April 30, 1492, one day after the publication of the decree of expulsion in Saragossa, Rabbi Levi b. Shem Tov, one of the community's scholars, appeared before the investigators of heresy, and testified that in 1490, upon the orders of the inquisitor, he had called upon the members of the community, and cautioned them under the threat of the cherem to testify before the inquisition all that was known to them on the conversos who observed the Jewish precepts. According to a list apparently drawn up during the 17th century, over 600 people were tried up to the beginning of the 16th century. Only a few of the dossiers of those who were sentenced, however, are existent.

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HASAN Origin of surname
HASAN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from Jewish communal functionaries or titles.

Has(s)an/Haz(z)an is the title of a congregational reader of prayers, or cantor, officiating in a synagogue. Like Rabbi and Cantor, it became a widespread family name with several variants. In the 10th century, Hasan and Hussein are mentioned in Baghdad, and Hassan is recorded in the Spanish city of Cordoba. In the 11th century, Hazzan is found in Germany, and Hasan in Yemen. Hacen is documented in 13th century Spain. The 16th century records Hason in Turkey, and Hazzan in Volhynia. Eastern European variants are usually based on the spellings Chazan and Chasan, to which the Italian diminutive form Chasanetto is closely related. German forms include Chahsen and Chassen. but as a Jewish family name it belongs to the Hazan/Hasan group.

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Hasan include the 10th century Karaite scholar Ben Mashiah Hasan, also known as Hussein, who lived in Baghdad; the 11th century wealthy Yemenite Jew of Persian origin, Abu Ali Jepheth Ibn Bundar Hasan who was Nagid in Aden; and the 20th century Finnish business executive and community leader, Faivels Hasan.
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Yvonne Hasan

Yvonne Hasan (1925-2016), artist, professor and art historian, born in Bucharest, Romania. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest, specializing in aesthetics, art history earning a PhD. Her teachers included the painters M.H. Maxy (1895-1971) and Alexandru Ciucurencu (1903-1977). Hasan was a founding member of the Romanian Union of Visual Artists. She was a professor of art history at the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest. She is the author of courses, studies, art history articles, including the volume Paul Klee si arta moderna (“Paul Klee and Modern Art”). Hasan had eight solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.

Saragossa

Saragossa

Zaragoza; Hebrew: סרקרסטה, סרקסטה

City in Aragon, N.E. Spain; capital of the former Kingdom of Aragon.

21st Century

From seven synagogues of the Middles Ages in Saragossa the location of two are known, the largest synagogue La Mayor and the Sinagoga de los Callizos or Sinagoga de Cehán,

A Spanish historian wrote a description of a Saragossa synagogue before it was converted into a church. The Saragossa synagogue’s painted menorah and biblical textual reference to the Temple are associated with the ancient center of Jewish worship in Jerusalem.

Megilat Saragossa scrolls from the 17th and 18th century are held by Columbia University. An old and new Jewish quarter, a Jewish castle and butchers shop have been attested in Saragossa. The Patio de la Infanta is a Renaissance structure with Jewish features.

History

There was an important Jewish community in Saragossa during the period of Muslim rule. Jews served as advisers in the court of the tolerant Tajib dynasty during the 11th century, among them, Abu Ishaq Jekuthiel b. Isaac of the wealthy Ibn Hasan family, killed in 1039. A cultural and intellectual center in the 11th century, Saragossa was the residence of the philologist Jonah Ibn Janach, the physician and philosopher Menahem Ibn al-Fawal, the poets Levi b. Jacob Ibn Altabban and Moses Ibn al-Takkanah, the poet and linguist Joseph Ibn Chisdai, the Talmudist and dayyan David b. Saadiah, and the philosopher Bachya b. Joseph Ibn Paquda. The Jews constituted 6.3% of the total population of Saragossa (which was under 20,000) during the 11th century.

From the time of Muslim rule until the eve of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the Jewish quarter in Saragossa continued to be situated within the city walls of the Roman period, in the southeastern section. The buildings of the community included a series of synagogues: the Great Synagogue, the Small Synagogue, the Engravers' Synagogue which appears to have been known as the Bikkur Cholim synagogue. One of the principal occupations of the Jews of Saragossa was garment making. The draperos held an important place in the community, coming directly after the personalities who had influence at court. Tailors, engravers, mantle-makers, furriers, goldsmiths, wool- cleaners, metal workers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, embroiderers and cobblers later organized their own benevolent societies. There were also landowners in the community who owned fields and vineyards outside the city, cultivated by daily workers and slaves. This occupational structure persisted until the expulsion.

In 1294 a rumor spread in Saragossa that some Jews had murdered a Christian child and extracted his heart and liver for magical purposes. The municipal authorities appointed an expert on magic to investigate the matter, while in the meantime the Jews succeeded in finding the murdered child in a neighboring city. King James II severely condemned the municipal authorities for the disaster which they had been about to bring upon the community.

In 1342, on the basis of a privilege granted by Pedro IV, the community of Saragossa proclaimed a cherem upon anyone who obtained a tax exemption or accepted a position in the community as rabbi, shochet, scribe, albedin, or emissary with the assistance of a royal privilege.

The Black Death struck a severe blow at the community of Saragossa. Hardly one-fifth of its members survived. On October 27, 1348, King Pedro instructed the procurador general of Aragon and the other royal officials in Saragossa not to compel the community to pay taxes until the plague ceased and new arrangements for tax payment were agreed upon.

The cultural and general progress of the community in the early 1360s was largely due to the la Cavalleria family. Don Vidal de la Cavalleria, one of the Kingdom's notables, leased the minting of gold coins in the Kingdom in conjunction with a Christian of Saragossa, an agent of the King, and leased the taxes in collaboration with another Christian. He was well versed in Jewish learning. The most outstanding member of the family was his son and the son-in- law of Vidal: Judah Benveniste de la Cavallería, who, from the late 1370s was involved in many of the Kingdom's affairs and carried on important commerce in Barcelona and other places. His house in Saragossa was a center of Hebrew culture and he signed state documents in Hebrew. Solomon and Benveniste maintained friendly relations with Nissim b. Reuben Gerondi and apparently supported Isaac b. Sheshet Perfet, who arrived in Saragossa in about 1372-73 and was active there for 13 years. The Responsa left by Isaac b. Sheshet yield much information on the way of life of the Jews of Saragossa. In 1396, with the consent of the government, Chasdai Crescas instituted regulations for the community of Saragossa. They show a pronounced tendency to strengthen the authority of the Muqaddimun and enable them to impose their decisions without undue delays. As early as 1399 the Queen, however, found it necessary to change these regulations.

The consequences of the Disputation of Tortosa 1413-14 affected the Saragossa community in the same way as it had the other communities in Spain. Its emissaries to the disputation were Zerahiah Ha-Levi and Mattathias Ha- Yitzhari; they were accompanied by the interceder Don Vidal, the son of Don Benveniste de la Cavalleria. Some of its prominent members, including members of the de la Cavalleria family, converted to Christianity, among them Benafos, who assumed the name of Fernando, and Vidal, who took the name of Gonzalo, and received a position in the Kingdom's administration. The conversion of Vidal had wide repercussions. His teacher, Rabbi Solomon da Piera, also converted with him. The government had already realized the undesirability of the conversos, whose numbers were increasing, continuing to reside in the same quarter as the Jews.

The community underwent a lengthy period of decline because there were no notable leaders after the Tortosa Disputation; its administration was concentrated in the hands of the craftsmen and simple folk who were incompetent to manage its affairs.

An event that occurred on Shevat 17, 5420 (1420), was subsequently celebrated by the community as the "Purim of Saragossa". The Jews of the city were accused by an informer of carrying empty torah cases at the reception being held in honor of the King; however, they were found to contain torah scrolls and the Jews were spared punishment. A special scroll describing this miracle was also written. According to a cautious estimate about 200 Jews yearly converted to Christianity between 1420 and 1430. To assist the community's recovery associations were established for the support of the poor, for torah study, and others. Endeavors to organize relief for the poor and the persecuted, brought a certain revival in community life. In 1457 Alfonso granted the community of Saragossa a for ten years, granted a general amnesty, and guaranteed his protection against seizures by church tribunals and against imprisonment and physical seizure by officers of the Kingdom.

When Ferdinand inherited the crown of Aragon in 1479, his policy toward the Jews of Castile was also applied in Aragon. Ferdinand explained that even a papal bull required the consent of the crown if it was to be applied. He ordered the Jews to wear a distinctive badge and instructed the municipal officials to see that the crown's instructions concerning the Jews were carried out, and to assure their protection. In 1486 the King granted the request of Torquemada and ordered the expulsion of the Jews from Saragossa. The general decree of expulsion of the Jews was published there on April 29, 1492. The inquisition officials took upon themselves to supervise the preparations for the expulsion. They issued an order prohibiting the purchase of properties from Jews, but the Jews of Saragossa apparently did not heed this prohibition and proceeded with the transfer or sale of their properties. During the whole of this period, Christian notaries were fully occupied with drawing up inventories of the properties of those who were about to leave; these lists give much information on the situation of the Jews of Saragossa during the last stage of the community's existence. It is assumed that the Jews of Saragossa departed in the direction of the ports of the Kingdom, but some of them presumably went to the Kingdom of Navarre.

Although there were Jews in Saragossa who deliberately or willingly abandoned Judaism, many after their conversion continued to observe the Jewish precepts and were Jews in every respect. Several of the conversos in Saragossa became renowned. In 1450 Pedro de la Cavalleria completed his apologia for Christianity. At trials held by the inquisition during the 1480s, testimony was brought against him that he was accustomed to eat in Jewish houses, that he participated in the grace after meals, and that he had spoken scornfully of Christianity. It was he who brought to castile the pearl necklace which Ferdinand had sent to his betrothed, Isabella. At the beginning of May 1484, Torquemada appointed two inquisitors to the tribunal of Saragossa. The tribunal established its seat outside the city in the Aljaferia fortress and on May 10 the first auto-da-fe took place and four conversos were burned at the stake. It nevertheless appears that the tribunal proceeded rather slowly in its task.

Leading conversos of Saragossa were related to the local nobility including the royal family by marriage, and in general the conversos in the city had close social and commercial relations with the Christian population. The government realized that in Saragossa a cautious policy should be adopted over the converso problem. On September 14, 1485, an incident took place in Saragossa which had repercussions throughout Spain. On that day, the inquisitor Pedro de Arbues was assassinated in the cathedral of Saragossa while engrossed in his prayers. The converso community, as well as the Jews, were threatened with total annihilation, but the municipal and royal officials suppressed the riots and began an energetic search for the culprits. In December 1485 the inquisition tribunal resumed its activities and applied justice to the strict letter of the law. From then onward, monthly autos-da-fe were held, and many conversos were burned at the stake. On April 30, 1492, one day after the publication of the decree of expulsion in Saragossa, Rabbi Levi b. Shem Tov, one of the community's scholars, appeared before the investigators of heresy, and testified that in 1490, upon the orders of the inquisitor, he had called upon the members of the community, and cautioned them under the threat of the cherem to testify before the inquisition all that was known to them on the conversos who observed the Jewish precepts. According to a list apparently drawn up during the 17th century, over 600 people were tried up to the beginning of the 16th century. Only a few of the dossiers of those who were sentenced, however, are existent.