Abstract

This is the first biographical profile of Isacco Rignano (1824-1897). Born in Livorno and a brilliant student at Pisa University, he became a successful lawyer both in his city and in the defence of the previleges and traditions of the local Jewish community. Rignano also produced many reputed and often quoted pages on the problems concerning the discrepancies between the Lorenese legal system and that introduced in Italy as a consequence of national unity. A staunch defender of the ancient previleges of his community, he was at the same time a loyal and firm supporter of equal rights awarded by the new Italian Kingdom, thus embodying that peculiar mix of secular outlook while holding on to the old traditions typical of the Italian Jewry during the Risorgimento.