Descendants of

Menachem Ottolenghi and Judica De Valletro

married

27 December 1719 - Livorno, Italy

Click on Underlined names to see the next generation.

Our earliest found record is that of Meir (Meyer) Ottolenghi, he appears as the father of the Novio in his son - Menachem's Ketubah. Menachem Ottolenghi married Judica (daughter of Immanuel De Valletro) in Livorno, Italy on the 27th December 1719.  Her family ancestors quite possibly (but not proven) may have come from Valletri in the Castelli Romani from where Jews were expelled in 1569. The place of birth for Menachem and his father Meir/Meyer remains a mystery. No birth record has been found for either in Livorno. We estimate Menachem’s birth at about 1698 and his wife Judica’s at about 1699.

There are a number of theories on where 'our' Ottolenghi family originated.

It seems apparent from speaking to many of our descendants that ‘Family Lore' suggests our Ottolenghi line were Portuguese, having fled to Italy at the time of the Inquisition. One thing that seems to separate our Ottolenghi antecedents from the Italian Ottolenghi dynasties, is their choice of first (given) names. The Italian Ottolenghi’s all seem to have typically Italian given names........Guiseppe, Angelo, Lazzaro etc whereas ours always had biblical given names, a family tradition which continued well into the 19th century.

Ottolenghi is the Italian spelling of our name. Other alternate spellings we have found for family members in England include: Ottolengui, Ottolinghi, Ottolengue, Ottolengi, Ottolanghi, Ottolangui and many anglicanized the name to ‘Langley’.

Pronunciation of "Ottolangui" -the- "gui" is the exact Portuguese equivalent of the Italian -"ghi" and pronounced identically i.e. both "ghi" and -"gui" are pronounced "gee" the "h" in Italian and the "u" in Portuguese serving to mark the "g" as a hard consonant.

Click here to see the Ketubah (Marriage Certificate) for Menachem and Judica de Valletro

1st Generation:

Children of MENACHEM OTTOLANGUI and JUDICA DE VALLETRO are:

MEIR OTTOLENGHI  b.1720, Livorno, Italy.

BATSEBA OTTOLENGHI  b.1721, Livorno, Italy.

ELISEO OTTOLENGHI  b.1724, Livorno, Italy.

SIMKE OTTOLENGHI  b.1726, Livorno, Italy.

ROSE OTTOLENGHI  b.1728, Livorno, Italy.

NAHAN OTTOLENGHI  b.1731, Livorno, Italy.

ELIEZER NAHAN OTTOLENGHI  b.1733, Livorno, Italy.

DAVID OTTOLENGHI b.4 October 1734, Livorno, Italy.

ISMAH ISRAEL OTTOLENGHI  b.1737, Livorno, Italy.

MOISE OTTOLENGHI  b.1740, Livorno, Italy.

MEIR OTTOLENGHI  b.1743, Livorno, Italy.