Reuben Gubbay
From Lucien Gubbay
You asked to be kept informed of my
progress in tracing my great-greatgreat grandfather
Reuben Gubbay.
The discovery of an 1803 Levant Company
document certifying that Reuben's two sons in Aleppo
(the other was in Baghdad) had settled their late
father's business affairs with his partner, Matlub
Rahamim, revealed that Reuben died in Constantinople.
I then managed to locate his grave
in the Kuzkuncuk cemetery of Istanbul. The inscription
states that he died in 1799 and originally came
from Baghdad. His father's name was Salah. So the
search is now on for Salah Gubbay.
Can you suggest anything?
As my copy of the tombstone inscription
is in very small print, I enclose an English translation
made for me by Raphael Loewe (with added punctuation
by me).
Reply:
We are sending photocopies of 6 pages of Gubbay
family tree of Baghdad in our records which may
provide some clues.
TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTION DATED FEBRUARY
1799
Kuzkuncuk Cemetery, Istanbul
A man truly blessed, valiant indeed
and of great achievements, a person once resident
in the famous city of Baghdad, the renowned sage,
his honour our master Reuben Bekhor Salah Gubbay,
may his soul be bound up in the bond of life, who
departed, respected by all, on 12th of (1st) Adar
in the year 5559. May his rest be in glory.
He was a man whose intellect enfolded
all aspects of knowledge. His was a choice mind
that combined judgement with purpose, one held in
honour by those of every nation who saw him. His
was a household name amongst all ' for some time
a highly respected resident in a land not his own.
