Eliezer Farḥi

Born in Tunis, Eliezer Farḥi grew up in the Livornese community of Tunis; his father was originally from Jerusalem. In 1884, after having obtained rabbinic ordination in Livorno, Italy, Farḥi returned to Tunis to establish Judeo-Arabic journals that would “enlighten” and educate local Jews. In addition to the three papers that Farḥi established and edited—Ha-Mevasser, al-Mubashshir, and al-Nasr—he opened a number of printing presses, advocated for Zionism, and wrote poetry, novels, and religious texts. After he retired as an administrator of the Charitable Society in Tunis, Farḥi ran a pharmacy in the Livornese market in Tunis.