Data sheet
Name: Monument for Rabbi Alessandro da Fano
Location: field 4, no. 4-5
Author:
Construction date: 1935
Alessandro Elisha Da Fano, pupil and son-in-law of Rabbi David Maroni, was born in Florence in 1847 and was Rabbi in Milan from 1892 until his death in 1935, after having been Rabbi in Udine, Urbino, Reggio Emilia and Corfu. He was a Hebrew language teacher and a great friend of Monsignor Achille Ratti, prefect of the Ambrosian Library, who later became Pope Pius XI, with whom he discussed great religious and cultural issues. In 1935 he asked Pope Ratti for help in avoiding anti-Jewish laws, who replied “As long as I sit on the Chair of Peter nothing will happen to Italian Jews.” In the last meeting with the Pope they blessed each other by laying their hands on their heads.
The rabbi is buried with his wife Adele Chuldà Maroni who died in 1918, daughter of the rabbi David Maroni (1810-1888) in Florence.
The monument consists of a votive vase from which a garland of flowers descends onto the two horizontal marble slabs.
