Corsica
CORSICA, Mediterranean island. Corsica is the only major Mediterranean island without a Jewish settlement either in ancient or in medieval times. "King" Theodore, the German adventurer who temporarily established his rule in Corsica in 1736, invited Jews and Protestants to settle under his protection, and among the accusations made against him was that he was addicted to magic and the Kabbalah and had induced Jews and Greeks to settle in his kingdom. When in 1757–68 General Paoli set up an independent Corsican regime, he attempted to encourage the settlement of Jews from Leghorn by promising them naturalization and autonomy. At the end of the 19th century a few families settled in Bastia and established a small community that maintained a stable population of up to 150 through the second half of the 20th century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
C. Roth, Essays and Portraits in Anglo-Jewish History (1962), 152ff.
Source: Encyclopaedia
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