Per i diritti degli ebrei: percorsi dell’emancipazione a Venezia nel 1848

This essay analyses the Jewish emancipation, which took place in Venice during the 1848 revolution, by focusing on the local contemporary debates and the direct participation of the Jewish community in those political events. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of the emancipation decree both for the Jewish identities and the population, and on the need of internal religious reform and social «regeneration». Through this case study, I have been able to explore some important critical problems concerning the relations between the Jews and the Italian unification process. By analysing a famous pamphlet of Tommaseo, the article considers some peculiarities and undertones of the Philo-Semitic thought circulating in the Risorgimento. Moreover, the essay enlightens how the Jews took part in the 1848 revolution, their specific values and motivations, and how the emancipation influenced the elaboration of their identities and their relation with Italy and the Venetian homeland.