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Privata (Books and documents from private archives)

  • HR-DADU-63
  • Fonds
  • 1427-1829

The fonds is an important source for researching the life and business affairs of the people living in the Dubrovnik Republic in the period from the 15th to the 19th century. It consists primarily of accounting books of debts and receivables (dare et avere), trade journals (giornale), various notes (squarçio, libro picolo, quaderno), general ledgers (libro grande, maestro) and accounting books of different stores (quaderni stacionis).


Volume no. 23 of this fonds is an accounting book which contains various monetary claims of Isac Vita Campos, with an alphabetical index according to the first names of his debtors. It can be assumed that this book contains data on both Isac and his brother Samuel, two prominent Dubrovnik merchants who ran a very successful trading company in the 18th century. The data provide evidence that seven generations of the Campos family lived in Dubrovnik from the 17th to the 19th century. Some accounting books of various Dubrovnik merchants, for example Vicko Stefani, Martolo Đurđević and Benko Resti, also contain data on their affairs with Jewish business partners (vols. 32, 43, 44).

Josip Gelčić (1849-1925)

Procurae Cancellariae; Procure de Cancellaria (Powers of attorney registered at the Chancellery)

  • HR-DADU-17
  • Fonds
  • 1470-1475, 1580-1815

The fonds contains books of various types of powers of attorney registered in the period from the 15th to the beginning of the 19th century, in which, in addition to citizens residing in the Dubrovnik Republic, citizens from other countries are also referenced either in a role of authorised proxies or principals. The topics of these documents are mainly related to the conduct of various types of business both in Dubrovnik and in other, foreign countries, mainly in the Ottoman Empire and in the countries of the Apennine Peninsula.


The fonds is very important for the reconstruction of the Jewish business network in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. There are many references to Jewish people in the fonds: some references relate to the Jews who lived in Dubrovnik at the time, while others relate to those from other countries. The data show that many of the powers of attorney that were registered at the Chancellery were written in various cities of the Ottoman Empire (Belgrade, Sarajevo) or Italy (Ancona, Venice). The main topics of these documents are the collection of debts, the conducting of business affairs, and the representation at in-court and out-of-court settlements of commercial disputes. To illustrate, the following is an example of a power of attorney signed by the principal and written in Hebrew letters. The document refers to a certain Jew by the name of Solomon Barelia from Belgrade who came to Dubrovnik in 1674 and, at the Chancellery, authorized Jakob Almoslino to collect debts for him in Dubrovnik, Ancona, Venice, and in other cities in Italy (vol. 59, ff. 194-195v). Principals would often give a so-called general power of attorney in which they would declare the people they authorised as their alter ego. It is important to point out that a significant number of Jewish women are also referenced to in this fonds, most often also in the function of principals or of those who gave a power of attorney to someone else. Judita Luzzena is one of the few women to appear as a proxy: her husband Samuel Luzzena declared her to be his alter ego in 1795 (vol. 82a, f. 173). References can be found in this fonds to some members of Dubrovnik Jewish families, such as Ambonetti, Campos, Cohen, Fermo, Levi Mandolfo, Luzzena, Maestro, Pappo, Pardo, Russo, Terni, Tolentino, Valenzin, Vitali; to some of their relatives who lived abroad; as well as to members of some other Jewish people from foreign countries, such as Barrafael, Bianchi, Della Tomba, Mucciaccio.

Chancellery of the Dubrovnik Republic

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