Dve stotine godina porodice Hajim-Davičo u Beogradu

Abstract

Kad god se piše ili govori o Jevrejima u Beogradu ili Srbiji, neizostavno se pominje jedna ličnost. To je Hajim Davičo, nezaobilazna ličnost kad se piše o knezu Milošu, finansijama Kneževine Srbije, o nabavkama oružja za kneževe potrebe, a posebno mesto zauzima u tekstovima o jevrejskoj zajednici u Beogradu. Međutim, kad se uporede i saberu svi napisi u kojima se on pominje vidi se da je sve to zapravo veoma malo i da se sve može svesti na jedan podatak: da je Hajim Davičo bio beogradski trgovac, menjač, da je pozamljivao novac knezu Milošu, da je učestvovao u nabavkama oružja i druge robe, te u štampanju hebrejskih knjiga u Knjaževskoj štampariji. I ovo malo podataka ipak ukazuje na izuzetnog čoveka, na bogatu biografiju, zanimljivu istorijsku figuru, značajnu i za beogradske Jevreje i za istoriju Srbije u prvoj polovini XIX veka.

Members of the Hajim-Davičo family played for two centuries the important part in the history of Belgrade and its Jewish community. Through the documents kept in Arhiv Beograda (The Belgrade Archive) and Arhiv Srbije (The Serbian Archive), one can follow the mercantile and financial activity of David ben Hajim-Davičo. He was one of the most important Belgrade Jewish merchants in the first half of the XIX century. His brother Israel ben Hajim was an author, editor, translator, and publisher of numerous books in Ladino and Hebrew which were printed in Vienna from 1818 to 1824. The son of David ben Hajim was named Hajim ben David end he took the name or nickname Davičo, which was also used by his father. In some articles and in literature these two men are sometimes mistaken for one. Like his father, Hajim was the merchant and money changer but his significance was more relevant in the sphere of publishing. He was the first man in Serbia who publish the books in Hebrew, in Knjaževska štamparija (The Prince’s Printing House); during 1837-1853 he has published about ten books. The Davičo family was through marriage connected with the most important Jewish families in Belgrade and Zemun. In the first half of XIX century the family had the surname Haim, while in the second half of the century they used the form Hajim; among the numerous members of this family only the direct descendants of David ben Hajim were also adding the surname Davičo which by the end of the century has remained their only surname. In the second half of the XIX century, the most esteemed member of this family was the writer Hajim Davičo and in the Belgrade Jewish circles his brother Benko Davičo, translator and humanist was also much admired. One of the most important Serbian writers Oskar Davičo (1909-1989) is the direct descendant of this family. Creativity and talent for literature have remained in this family for more than two hundred years.