a’ Cohen Treves Directly descended from the Belmonte Jews of Portugal
Number 25: The Marranos that have been living in Belmonte in the Cova da Beira subregion of Portugal, are sometimes referred to as the “Belmonte Jews.” They are a community that has survived in secrecy for hundreds of years and hid all external signs of their faith. They were only “discovered” in 1917!
The Belmonte’s, a Portuguese Dutch Marano family, traced its descent from Don Iago y Sampayo, to whom in 1519 King Manuel of Portugal gave the city of Belmonte. Don lago took on the name of Belmonte in that year. His grandson Jacob Israel Belmonte was one of the founders of the Portuguese-Jewish community of Amsterdam. He married Simhah Belmonte ‘nee Vaz from Porto in Portugal.
The Marranos frequently carried in secret their Jewish names and transmitted them to their descendants. Those various names reveal also the double identity of people living in a world of terror and sometimes kept a meaning and histories that were orally transmitted from one generation to another. In the same family we commonly find members using different names. Father, mother, grandparents, brothers, adopted completely different names one from each other. It was also common among the Marranos to skip one or more generations, and to return again to the name of the grandparent.
The different names and orally transmitted histories exist also in our family!
Yair & Maya Schkolne and Mia & Timor Skolni are direct descendants of the Jews of Belmonte, who left Belmonte and (possibly via Madeira for some time) arrived in Amsterdam in 1614. We can trace the ancestry back through 16 generations, 4 of which lived in Belmonte. Taking the surnames only of the parent whose parent is traced to Belmonte, they are: Schkolne; a’ Cohen Treves; Nunes Vaz; Querido; Belmonte and y Simpayo
| 16 | Don lago y Simpayo | |
| Birth: 1493 | ||
| Took name Belmonte in 1519 Andria y Simpayo nee Mascarenhas | ||
| 15 | Andre Belmonte | |
| 14 | Jacob Israel Belmonte | |
| Belmonte, Castelo Branco | ||
| Portugal. Died Amsterdam | ||
| Beth Chaim Cemetery Row 9 | ||
| 1570 – 4/12/1629 | ||
| 13 | Sarah Querido | |
| nee Dio Belmonte | ||
| 1602 – 1632 | ||
| 12 | Jacob Querido | |
| 19/01/1630 | ||
| Death: 5/02/1679 Amsterdam | ||
| 11 | Aron Jacob Querido | |
| Born 1660 Amsterdam | ||
| Married 18/06/1681 | ||
| Death: April 1738 | ||
| 10 | Jacob Aron Querido | |
| Born 1684 Amsterdam | ||
| Married: 3/03/1708 | ||
| Death: 5/02/1746 | ||
| Beth Chaim Cemetery aan de Amstel | ||
| 9 | Simcha Aaron David Nunes Vaz | |
| nee Querido | ||
| Born 31/01/1737 Amsterdam | ||
| Married: 10/11/1758 | ||
| Death: 22/07/1810 | ||
| 8 | Jacob Nunes Vaz | |
| 26/11/1759 Amsterdam | ||
| Married 11/07/1788 | ||
| Died: 15/12/1813 Amsterdam | ||
| 7 | Reina Regina Jacob Cohen Treves | |
| nee Nunes Vas | ||
| 22/11/1797 – 23/01/1885 | ||
| Married in 16/08/1826 | ||
| Occupation: Naaister | ||
| 6 | Jacob Haim a’ Cohen Treves | |
| 14/06/1836 – 23/03/1890 | ||
| Married: 5/09/1869 | ||
| Buried: Oudekerk | ||
| 5 | Moses a’ Cohen Treves | |
| Born 5/07/1874 Amsterdam | ||
| Married 22/08/1895 Amsterdam | ||
| Died 12/07/1944 Theresienstadt | ||
| 4 | Jacob a’ Cohen Treves | |
| 10/11/1897 – 28/03/1978 | ||
| Occupation: Briljantslijper | ||
| Born: Amsterdam; Died Cape Town | ||
| 3 | Marcelle Schkolne ‘nee a’Cohen Treves | |
| 27/11/1927 – 05/02/2014 | ||
| Born: Amsterdam; Died 5/02/2014: CapeTown | ||
| 2 | Raymond Treves Schkolne | |
| Born 17/06/1957 | ||
| Cape Town | ||
| 1 | Yair Edelstein Schkolne | |
| Born 24/12/1985; Nahariya Israel | ||
| Maya Golda Schkolne | ||
| Born 2/09/1988; Haifa Israel |
| Don lago y Simpayo | |||
| Birth: 1493 | |||
| Took name Belmonte in 1519 | |||
| Abraham Alvarez Querido | Andre Belmonte | ||
| Birth 1598 | |||
| Married 16/08/1628 Amst. | Jacob Israel Belmonte | Andria y Simpayo | |
| Death: 23/01/1640 | Belmonte, Castelo Branco | ||
| Portugal. Died Amsterdam | |||
| Beth Chaim Cemetery Row 9 | |||
| 1570 – 4/12/1629 | |||
| Sarah Querido | Catarina Monis | ||
| nee Dio Belmonte | |||
| 1602 – 1632 | |||
| Simcha Israel Belmonte | |||
| nee Vaz | |||
| 1582 – 21/06/1643 | |||
| Born: Porto Portugal. | |||
| Died Amsterdam |