Noticias
After 80 years missing
Recovery of the manuscript of Carvajal, the first Jewish document written in America
March 16, 2017After more than 80 years missing, the Mexican government recovered Luis de Carvajal’s manuscript, considered the first document written by a Jew in America.
After its exhibition in New York, this manuscript, dated of the sixteenth century, is ready to return to Mexico where it can be appreciated in the Museo de Memoria y Tolerancia, by agreement of the secretary of Culture, Maria Cristina García Cepeda.
Last year began the efforts to recover that valuable document that was stolen in 1932 from the Archivo General de la Nación, Director of Legal Affairs of the Department of Culture, Luis Cacho, said.
Collector and philanthropist Leonard L. Milberg, went to the General Consulate of Mexico in New York to inform that Carvajal’s manuscript, which was known to be of Mexican origin, was on sale at an auction house.
"We verified it and confirmed that it was indeed Luis de Carvajal’s document, the conscript who was prosecuted by the Inquisition in the sixteenth century. In this case a Jewish convert, who wrote the document in America and was stolen in 1932 from the Archivo General de la Nación (General Archive of the Nation), where all the files of the Inquisition in the time of New Spain are”, Luis Cacho, said.
Thereafter, the then Secretary of Culture, Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, started the necessary arrangements for Mexico to recover that manuscript.
Since the robbery was in 1932, all possible legal actions that could be undertaken by the Mexican government had already been prescribed, so it was decided to negotiate. "Mr. Milberg offered to pay the cost of the manuscript and donate it to the government of Mexico," on condition that before returning to the country it was exhibited in the Museo de la Sociedad Histórica of New York, Luis Cacho said
Since last October, Luis Carvajal’s manuscript was the centerpiece of the exhibition The First American Jews: Freedom and Culture in the New World, which would initially end on February 26th, but due to its great success it was on view until March 12th.
The historic document will be delivered to the Department of Culture on March 17th at the General Consulate of Mexico in New York and on March 18th, it will arrive in Mexico.
From April 4th, the Mexican public will be able to admire Luis de Carvajal’s manuscript, a very important document for America and Mexico history of which it was thought that it would never be recovered, Luis Cacho said.
Thanks to the opportune advice of the General Consulate of Mexico in New York, to the generosity of Mr. Milberg and to the efforts of the Department of Culture, the donation and return of the document to the Mexican government was possible.
The presence of Jews in the American continent, particularly in the case of Mexico, dates back from the discovery and colonization of America with the so-called converts, forced to become Christians: migrants in the New World with the desire to practice their religion and traditions freely.
The most prominent case was that of the De Carvajal family, founders of the city of Monterrey, who also ruled the New Kingdom of Leon that spanned a vast territory of northern Mexico and southern United States.
Although they were, publicly, Christians, they continued to practice Judaism in secret and were accused by the Inquisition. Governor Luis de Carvajal died in prison and most of this family was executed in Mexico City in 1596.
The document, written by hand while Luis de Carvajal was imprisoned in the prisons of the Inquisition, it was subjected to a rigorous process by specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH, for its acronym in Spanish), to verify its authenticity.
Luis Cacho said that this manuscript has a very interesting story, "the first document written by a Jew in America. That's why New York was very interested, the Jewish community has a lot of presence there.”
These manuscripts are of great historical and cultural value not only for Mexico but also for the construction of the testimony of the Jews in America. They relate Luis de Carvajal’s autobiography and the persecution of his family.
They are considered the only ones written by a Jew existing in the time of the Colony of Spain in Mexico and were hidden in the archives of the Inquisition of Mexico for over 300 years. They include a book with his memoirs, book of psalms and commandments, and a manual of prayers.
Once in Mexico, the public will be able to admire this historic document in the exhibition The return to México. The manuscript of Carvajal, that will be opened on April 4th at 12:30 pm in the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia, located in Plaza Juárez, in front of the Alameda Central, where it will be on view for a month.
Mexico,Distrito Federal
