Foa Family Makes Its Mark—in Many Ways
By CHARLOTTE HYAMS
Dr. Pierro Pio Foa's past, pres-
ent and future line the walls of
Room 210, the little museum he
calls his office at Sinai Hospital.
Photographs of his eminent fath-
er and grandfather look down over
his desk — a reminder of the Foa
family's proud past. His present
is a formidable-looking radioactivi-
ty-measuring machine that squats
behind him.
The future lies on a countertop
—blueprints for the Jospe-Ham-
burger Research Building to be
started within a month or two.
But the observant eye finds
other keys to the man who, at age
54, heads Sinai's
division of re-
search: an espres-
so pot (the Ital-
ian), the shelves
of papers on dia-
betes and hyper-
tension (the phy-
siologist), the pic-
tures of wife and
two children (the
provider), the
Dr. Foa frozen orange
juice can that holds pencils (the
man).
There is the diploma from
the University of Milan, where
he studied under his father, Dr.
Carlo Foa, professor of physi-
ology. There is the class picture
that belonged to his grandfather,
Dr. Pio Foa, professor of pa-
thology at the University of
Turin. There are the awards that
have come to Pierro Foa for his
own work, proving that the third
generation could, indeed, live up
to the first.
But there are many generations
to the Foa family, and therein lies
the story.
Dr. Foa has not lived in the De-
troit area long—only 3% years,
having come here to start the re-
search division at Sinai. (After his
studies at Milan and Yale Univer-
sity, however, he was a research
fellow at the University of Michi-
gan, where he met his wife,
Naomi, a native Detroiter.) He
taught at the Chicago Medical
School 17 years before accepting
the position here.
But it is in the past 31/2 years
that Dr. Foa has become well ac-
quainted with another side of his
family, not doctors but printers.
In his Huntington Woods home
(low-slung and roomy, it's a far
cry from the cubicle at Sinai), Dr.
Foa has assembled a number of
works on the Foa history. Three
of the books date back to the 1500s,
when a certain Tobia Foa prosper-
ed as a printer in Sabbioneta, Italy.
Dr. Foa believes that the family
came from Spain at the end of the
15th Century, with the expulsion
of the Jews by Queen Isabella.
He said the family name may
DAYENI
tT 1 V
,
"ItZln0
rint.o
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The Foa Library
Printer's mark of Tobia Foa
of Sabbioneta, Italy, bears two
lions holding up a "Jewish star".
Over the palm tree in the back-
ground is a text from the Psalms:
"The righteous shall flourish like
a palm tree." The other Hebrew
words outside the crest bear
Tobia Foa's name and the texts
"A saint will blossom like a
date" and "Thou 0 Lord art my
power."
* * *
well have been other than Foa.
"Many Italian Jews who escaped
at that time took names of Ita-
lian cities, like Verona and Pa-
dua. There is no city of Foa, but
I've heard there is a city in the
French Pyrenees called Foix, and
from this may have come Foa."
In the small Italian town of Sab-
bioneta, the family settled down,
and under the patronage of a lib-
eral prince, Tobia set up a Hebrew
press in 1551.
Unfortunately, "Tobia must have
stepped on somebody's toes be-
cause the presses were sold about
10 years after they were set up,"
said Dr. Foa.
The toes stepped on belonged to
the Church. Tobia Foa's first job
was a book by Don Isaac Abra-
banel, the well-known philosopher
who made no secret of his con-
tempt for Rome.
Nevertheless, in 10 years Tobia
turned out many titles in Hebrew,
among them a prayer book and
miniature Song of Songs Dr. Foa
has in 'his possession. The great
value of Tobia's work is recognized
by the Church that once con-
demned them as "dangerous": sev-
eral are in the Vatican library, ac-
cording to Dr. Foa.
One of the unique features of
the family business was its print-
er's mark: a "Jewish star" back-
ed by a palm tree and flanked
by two lions. Over the top was
a text from the Psalms: "The
righteous shall flourish like a
palm tree."
BY HENRY LEONARD
61r‘G---
14
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101
000
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4-.:1#
It is known today that the six-
pointed Magen David did not be-
come a widespread Jewish symbol
until the 19th Century. In the
1500s no printer other than Tobia
Foa used it, and it had no real
Jewish meaning. An article that
appeared in Commentary some
time ago called attention to the
fact that printers "who imitated
the Foa mark at the beginning of
the 18th Century omitted the shield
of David and retained only the
palm tree and the two lions."
Dr. Foa has duplicated the mark
for use as book nameplates, and
he has an antique desk which bears
the same crest in inlay.
What happened to Tobia?
According to the Universal Jew-
ish Encyclopedia, which carries
much material on the Foa family,
the strict censorship in Sabbioneta
forced Tobia to close the business,
and it was removed to Cremona
and then to Mantua.
"At his death," the entry states,
"the printing establishment was
closed until 1567, when it was re-
opened under the management of
Vincentio Conti. A century later,
a descendent of the family, Na-
thanael Foa, took possession and
printed Hebrew publications dur-
• ing 1696 to 1715."
And Sabbioneta? Whatever hap-
pened the little town that gave
refuge to the Jews fleeing the In-
quisition? Its reputation is little
known in Jewish archives, but ac-
cording to one writer paying an
obvious compliment to the Foas,
"no Hebrew press of the century
was more fortunate in the number
and quality of its workmen."
ter of New York, treasurer of
CARE, presented two gifts, includ-
ing printing equipment and a
technical library, to the Beersheba
Comprehensive School and the
government's Institute for Arid
Zone Research here.
The printing equipment, valued
at 3,500 Israeli pounds ($1,166),
was given to the school so that
Beersheba youth could improve
their studies of printing techniques
without the need to complete such
studies in other schools at Tel
Aviv or in other cities in Israel.
The technical library, costing
about $3,000, will help further in-
tensification of researches and
laboratory experiments at the In-
stitute. In the last three years,
Touster said, CARE's equipment
MRS. WILLIAM GREENBERG
contributions for vocational edu-
Joann Phyliss Hauser, daughter cational in Israel has amounted to
of Drs. Myron and Pearl Hauser o a value of 250,000 Israeli pounds
Northlawn Ave., became the bride ($83,333).
of William Arthur Greenberg, son
Love takes no advice.
of Mrs. Joseph Greenberg of 10
—The Talmud
Mile Rd., Oak Park, and the late
Mr. Greenberg, at a recent cere-
mony at Cong. Shaarey Zedek.
After their honeymoon in Puerto
Rico, they will live in Boston,
where both are students at the
LEATHER SHOP
Massachusetts College of Optome-
try.
6338 W. McNichols
tRohinson's
(Near Livernois)
32 New Paris Enclaves
PARIS (JTA)—Since the influx
of North African Jews into Paris,
32 new Jewish communities have
been formed in Paris and its sub-
urbs, the Paris Jewish Consistoire
reported.
UN 2-5611
LADIES' HAND-BAGS
LUGGAGE
REPAIRING
Judge Brown Removed
From Jack Ruby Case
Sol Dann, one of the newly ap-
pointed attorneys for Jack Ruby,
commenting on a change in
judges announced in Dallas on
Monday, said he expects soon to
see the ousting
of one of the dis-
t r i c t attorneys
who was respon-
sible for what he
called "the u n -
conscionable and
excessive verdict"
—the death pen-
alty for Ruby for
the murder of
Lee Harvey Os-
wald, President
Kennedy's assas-
Judge Brown sin.
At his own request, Judge Joe
E. Brown was removed from the
Ruby case.
Ruby's family was quoted as say-
ing that Judge Brown's removal
was good news.
Martin Xosins
UN 3-5245
Avid Overton
DI 1 1702
-
Dover Recording
of Four Sonatas
Dover Publications, 180 Varick
St., New York, has embarked
upon a program of recording the
music of the outstanding compos-
ers.
A noteworthy product in the
new Dover series introduces a
distinguished pianist, I s t v a n
Nadas.
There is perfection in Nadas'
presentation of the works of four
great composers.
The long-playing record, "Mod-
em Piano Sonatas," offers Bella
Bartok and Sergei Prokofiev on
one side and proceeds with Ern-
est Bloch and Igor Stravinsky to
complete a noteworthy creation.
The choice of the four piano
sonatas and the excellence of the
performer make the new Dover
record one of very high quality.
en.
Swiss to Create Museum
BERNE (JTA)—The Swiss Fed-
eration of Jewish Communities de-
cided on the creation of a Jewish
museum in Basel at its assembly.
The Federation is comprised of the
24 Jewish communities in Switz-
erland totaling 4,600 families.
490
Joann Hauser Bride 'CARE' Presents Gifts
Beersheba School
of William Greenberg to BEERSHEBA
(JTA)—Ben Tons-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, June 25, 1965-27
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