Giacomo Saban (1926-2022)

Italy’s Jews mourn the death of Giacomo Saban, a distinguished mathematician and respected leader, who passed last week. As president of the Jewish community of Rome, he was among the protagonists of the historical visit of Pope John Paul II to the Great Synagogue of Rome on April 13, which was the first of a pontiff to the temple in two thousand years and marked a turning point in his pontificate and the history of Jewish-Christian relations. Born in Istanbul to Italian parents, professor Saban was also vice president of UCEI-Union of the Italian Jewish Communities, president of UCEI board of probiviri, and emeritus editor of the Rassegna Mensile di Israel, a fundamental source for all those who are interested in the history, philosophy, and literature of Italian Jews. He was also committed to the Jewish education network ORT. So he recalled meeting the Pope in an interview with Pagine Ebraiche by Daniela Gross: “I’ve never had the feeling of being in the presence of a sovereign and I never felt any awe. My memory is of a very open, pleasant, ironic person, even if our ideas did not always match”. “I grew up in a family where I have seen many beloved ones take care of the Jewish communities and its needs. It was natural for me to follow this path”, he said when the Rassegna mensile di Israel released a special issue to honor him. A paternal uncle, Raffaele Davide Saban, was the Great Rabbi of Turkey, while his father and brother were involved in the secular council of the Rabbinate. Thus, in the early 1970s, he too got involved. Turkey, for its ancestors, had been the refuge from the Spanish Inquisition. Fleeing Mallorca, they arrived in Bursa, Anatolia, and from there to Istanbul.
Saban graduated in Mathematics and Physics in Istanbul in 1948, earning a second degree in Mathematical Sciences in Rome. In 1971 he was appointed professor of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Istanbul and from May 1978 he held the chair of Geometry at the same university.
In 1980, came the first of his Italian academic position as a professor of Geometry at the University of L’Aquila. Then followed appointments to the faculty of Statistical Demographic and Actuarial Sciences (Analytical Geometry) and of Mathematical Physical and Natural Sciences of Sapienza (Geometry I). Saban has also been director of the Department and chairman of the Board of the Degree Course in Mathematics several times.
Be his memory be of a blessing.