ALVAREZ or ALVARES:

By: Meyer Kayserling

Name of a Hispano-Portuguese family which has included among its members many scholars, distinguished men, and martyrs. Branches of the family have settled in Holland, France, England, and America.

A Portuguese Marano; lived several years at Madrid, and afterward in the Canary Islands, where he occupied the position of royal treasurer. In 1653 he went thence to London, and was one of the first members of the small and secret Jewish community of that city. (See "Transactions of the Jew. Hist. Soc. Eng.," i. 83 et seq.)

Garcia Alvarez, of Astorga, whose Jewish name was Samuel Dios-Ayuda (= Joshua), was a wealthy and benevolent man. He is mentioned about 1400 in a satire written by the priest, Diego de Valencia, a converted Jew, and is therein called "the delight and the ornament of the whole Jewry."

Isabel Nuñez Alvarez, of Viseu in Portugal, wife of Miguel Rodriguez of Madrid; was the owner of a synagogue, situated on the street "de las Infantes" in Madrid. She died a martyr's death in the flames, July 4, 1632. The Inquisition ordered the synagogue to be torn down, and upon its site a Capuchin monastery was subsequently erected. (See Kayserling, "Sephardim," pp. 203, 346.)

Jacob Alvarez, a member of the academy "Arbol de las Vidas" (Tree of Life) in Amsterdam in 1684. He is spoken of as "its light," and "the shield of the Talmud."

Joseph Israel Alvarez was, in 1682, a member of the academy of poets ("de los Floridos") in Amsterdam; he was distinguished for the elegance of his diction.

Juan Alvarez, a physician of Zafra, the first victim of the Inquisition in Lima. He, his father Alonzo, his wife, and his children were all publicly burnt as adherents of Judaism about 1580. (See "Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc." ii. 75; iii.; iv.; vi. 75.)

Leonora Alvarez was convicted of having several times lapsed to Judaism, and was burnt in Seville, June 6, 1723, at the age of forty. Alonzo Alvarez; her brother, was condemned to life-imprisonment at the same time for being a Jew.

Meir b. Solomon Alvarez. See Alguades, Meir b. Solomon.

Moses Alvarez was a member of the academy "Arbol de las Vidas" in Amsterdam, from 1741 to 1761. Another Moses Alvarez was one of the first settlers in Newport, R. I. He was naturalized in 1741, and died in 1766. (See "Publ. Am. Jew. Hist. Soc." vi. 76.)

Simon Alvarez, of Oporto, was the first victim of the Inquisition in Coimbra, his place of residence. He was arrested on the charge of practising Judaism, found guilty upon evidence extorted from his little daughter, and, together with his wife, burnt at the stake.

Antonio Alvarez-Soares, a Spanish poet. He composed a poem upon the dedication of the first synagogue established in Amsterdam in 1607. The poet, Daniel Levi de Barrios, who possessed the manuscript of his poems, describes him as an able versifier.

Antonio Alvarez-Soares, of Lisbon, a namesake of the preceding, was also a poet. He was much esteemed in Lisbon for his lyrics. He published in 1628 a collection of poems called "Varias Rimas." He emigrated to Flanders in 1632.