Introduction
Jacob Safra (Arabic: يعقوب صفرا) (1891 - 27 May 1963) was a Syrian-Lebanese Jewish banker. The Safras were bankers and gold traders engaged in the financing of trade between Beirut, Aleppo, Istanbul and Alexandria.
Biography
The Safra family were originally a merchant family of northern Lebanon, who historically made their money from financing the caravans of the Middle East.
When the Ottoman Empire fell apart in 1918, Jacob Safra, opened the family bank in the 1920s in Beirut, building on the Safras' long experience in gold and currency exchange. With its base in Lebanon, the Jacob E. Safra Bank became the bank of choice for many of Syria's and Lebanon's rich Sephardic Jewish families, who trusted the Safras to manage their business and personal financial interests with care and discretion. The bank was later renamed Banque de crédit national S.A.L. (BCN) and is one of the five oldest banks in Lebanon.
In 1952, he moved to Brazil with his four sons: Elie, Edmond, Joseph and Moise. They founded a Brazilian financial institution in 1955.
Personal life
Safra married his cousin, Esther. They had four sons: Elie, Edmond, Joseph, and Moise; and four daughters: Evelyn, Gabi, Arlette, and Ughette. Safra Square in Jerusalem is named in honor of him and his wife.