Solomon Eskenazi
german–Jewish Ottoman statesman
Salomon ben Natan Eskenazi (Hebrew: סולומון אסכנזי, Turkish: Süleyman Aşkenaz) was born into a German–Jewish family in Udine, Italy, in 1520. Eskenazi, alongside Solomon Aben Yaesh, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Ottoman foreign affairs history. He died in Istanbul in 1602, aged 82.
Life and career
After completing his medical education in Padua, he moved to Kraków for his new role as the physician of Sigismund II, King of Poland. Eskenazi, who later settled in Istanbul in 1564, worked as a doctor and translator for the Venetian Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. He had first gotten in contact with Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha during the Cyprus War in 1570. Eskenazi, who won the appreciation of Sokullu, was tasked with the negotiation of many international issues involving the Ottomans for 30 years. After Sokullu's quarrel with Joseph Nasi, nephew of Gracia Mendes Nazi, Eskenazi was appointed to conduct negotiations with Venice after the Battle of Lepanto, and was appointed as ambassador to sign an agreement with Venice.
At this time, the Doge of Venice had signed a decree ordering the expulsion of all Venetian Jews. The Ottoman representative of Venice, who was helped by Eskenazi, made the following remarks and had the decision cancelled on 19 July 1573:
"Oh, how such an attempt would offend the Ottoman Jews, who have great prestige and influence in the Ottoman nation.
The public source identifies “Solomon Eskenazi” as german–Jewish Ottoman statesman. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Solomon, Eskenazi and german.
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This entry incorporates text from “Solomon Eskenazi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.