BARZILAI

BARZILAI , Italian family. giuseppe (1824–1902), Orientalist. Born in Gradisca (Goerz), Giuseppe studied at Padua and was at one time secretary of the Trieste Jewish community. His work on the relations between the Semitic and Indo-Germanic languages (1885) won a prize from the Académie Française. He also translated the Song of Songs and Lamentations into Italian verse (1865 and 1867).

salvatore (1860–1939), son of Giuseppe, Italian politician, played no part in Jewish life. An ardent supporter of the Italian claim to Trieste, at the age of 18 he was found guilty of treason against Austria, but was acquitted on appeal after a year of imprisonment. Salvatore studied law at Bologna and began to practice in 1882, specializing in criminal law. Later he became recognized as an eminent legal authority. He was foreign editor of La Tribuna of Rome from 1883 to 1891, and entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1890 as an extreme left-wing republican advocating Italy's withdrawal from the Triple Alliance. His irredentism was so great that he became known as "the Deputy from Trieste." He strongly supported Italy's declaration of war against Germany and Austria in 1915, and was later appointed minister for the liberated territories. Salvatore was an Italian delegate at the peace conference in 1919 and became a senator in 1920. Among his writings are La criminalità in Italia (1885); La recidiva (1883); and Il nuovo Codice Penale (1889).

add. bibliography:

E. Falco, Salvatore Barzilai: un repubblicano moderno tra massoneria e irredentismo (1996).