RECITALS
The story, from the creation of the world through the generations that have followed, is a qualifying attribute of the Jewish tradition. The annual rereading of the Torah and the endless Talmudic discussions that accompany it are the most evident feature of this culture. Yet only recently has attention shifted to the history of the individuals, families and communities that make up the Jewish universe. Even today there is no complete account of the history of the Jewish community of Milan, the second most important in Italy and certainly very different from all the others. I did not write this book to fill a historical void. This is not an essay for specialists. Instead, I spent a few years working to convey a feeling of awareness to my children, my community and all those who too often identify Jews with a few classic topoi such as the Shoah, Israel or some religious symbols. To understand myself the role of the Milanese Jews in the urban fabric from an economic, civil and cultural point of view. To open a discussion on the uncertain future of this small community. One last warning. Both the term Jew and the Milanese term have been understood favoring the existence of strong ties with Judaism and the city rather than fidelity to the canons of Halakhah or to personal data.
LUIGI LUZZATTI AND HIS “Favourite Eldest Daughter”: BANCA POPOLARE DI MILAN
In the large hall in Piazza Meda, in front of the reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and the golden column by Giò Pomodoro, the marble bust of Maurizio Weill Babetta Schott Alberto Filippo Cimone Sofia Leone Enrico Guastalla triumphs on a black pedestal.
The Weill-Schott family (in italics the managers of the Weill-Schott Sons Bank). 80 Chapter fourth white by Luigi Luzzatti; below, the inscription: «Banca Popolare di Milano to its founder». In fact in 1865 Luzzatti, at the age of only twenty-four, founded the cooperative bank, of which he was first president for five years and then honorary president until his death: his "favourite eldest daughter", as he wrote a few months before his death . Luigi Luzzatti is perhaps the best known and most influential Jew in Italian political history. Jurist and economist, he was Prime Minister in 1910-11, after having been Minister of the Treasury four times and Agriculture once. Among the first advocates of social policies in favor of the less well-off classes and of laws to protect female and child labor, hostile to absolute liberalism and in favor of a pragmatic "subsidiary statism", he contributed to the recovery of public finances and the consolidation of the lira on international markets.
Born in Venice in 1841 into a wealthy Jewish family, he received an education inspired by the values of tolerance and secularism, to which he always remained faithful. After completing his law studies, he wrote his first work, The Diffusion of Credit and People's Banks, where, inspired by some German economists, he promoted the social function of credit and the fight against usury. In this context he also introduced the concept of limited liability, per capita voting and credit splitting. Moving to Milan, where he married Amelia Levi, he soon attracted the attention of the Austrian police, due to his lessons in political economy. Together with Tiziano Zalli in 1864 he founded the Banca Popolare di Lodi, the first Italian cooperative bank, on the model of the German experiences. In the same year, the mayor of Milan at the time, Antonio Beretta, set up a commission with the task of promoting the Milan labor credit company. In February 1865, a provisional board of directors was appointed at Palazzo Marino, chaired by Luzzatti himself. In the following months, a series of town meetings were held, aimed at preparing the establishment of the bank and its charter. Finally, on the day of Sant'Ambrogio (December 7) of the same year, Luzzatti convened the last preparatory assembly at Palazzo Marino, and in the same venue, a few days later, the notary Girolamo Corridori drafted the deed of incorporation of the limited company limited liability, known as Banca Popolare di Milano.
The first seat of the bank was in some rooms of the Palazzo della Ragione. The credit activity officially began in January 1866, thanks to the contribution of 404 members, who had subscribed a capital of 56 lire. The statute provided for a maximum limit of 50 shares for each shareholder, worth 50 lire each, which could also be paid in instalments. In the following years the growth was constant and impetuous, so that in the fifth year the members had become 2.500 and the paid-up capital had risen to 1,5 million lire. Even more important is that the example of Milan and Lodi had a large following in many Italian cities. Thus was born the cooperative banking system. The analysis carried out by Maifreda on testamentary bequests during the XNUMXth century then showed how many Milanese Jews, especially small savers, held shares in Popolare. Confidence in Luzzatti's initiative was such that the bank's shares were by far the most present in the portfolios analysed. It is also worth remembering that, among the great Jewish families in Milan, the Weill-Schotts were immediately among the most convinced supporters and associates of the initiative of the coreligionist Luzzatti. Alberto Weill-Schott also became, for a short time, the bank's vice president.
The position he held within Popolare was particularly significant, as he was one of the few founding partners with experience in the sector. However, two years later, Alberto Weill-Schott left the board of the credit institution due to disagreements about the strategies that Luigi Luzzatti wanted to follow: «Keep the bank's original character, popular, municipal, cautious and safe». Albeit on secular positions, Luzzatti was interested throughout his life in the problems connected with religious freedom and wrote numerous essays on the subject. His relations with Orthodox Judaism and Zionism were by no means smooth. However he never denied his origins and indeed wrote: “I was born an Israelite and I proudly return every time I am reproached for being one and that being one exposes me to danger. There is a dignity in bearing the weight of persecution and it would be cowardice to shun it. But apart from this, my education, my aspirations aim at a broad Christianity, as transpires from my writings".
After the Second World War another entrepreneur of Jewish origin was first a member of the board of directors and then president for six years (1965-71) of Banca Popolare di Milano: Guido Jarach.
