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The history of the Jews in Mozambique , until 1975, was closely connected with the history of Judaism through the former Portuguese empire, particularly those elements of it operating on the coastlines of the Indian Ocean. By the time the first Portuguese ships entered this ocean in the late 15th century, Jewish merchants and persons connected with sea work had lived on, and next to, this ocean for many centuries. As a European presence deepened by the late 19th century in the Portuguese East African colonial capital then called "Lourenço Marques", a cluster of Jews of diverse backgrounds were living there. [1]
After 1900, the same history became closely connected with the identity and operations of what became the Maputo Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. The Maputo synagogue traces its congregational records to 1899 when political upheavals connected with the Boer War caused the rabbi Joseph Hertz, then of Johannesburg, to briefly move to the Mozambique capital as a refugee. Rev. Dr. Hertz urged his co-religionists in Lourenço Marques to take steps to organize themselves as a community, including the commencement of pathways for Jewish education and the acquisition of land parcels for a synagogue and a Jewish cemetery. After a period of community development, these urgings flowered in 1926 with the construction of the Lourenço Marques Synagogue, a facility with a congregation of about 30 Jews. The emigration of European Jews as a result of the Holocaust led to the Jewish population of Lourenço Marques peaking at approximately 500 in 1942. [1]
With other organized religious organizations then operating in Mozambique, the Maputo congregation was dispersed in 1975-1976 by the revolutionary Frelimo government, and the synagogue was expropriated. The Jewish community reclaimed the building and reorganized in 1989; however, a report dated in 2008 indicates that the congregation had not recovered to pre-1975 levels. The Jewish community of Maputo, which was relatively coterminous with the overall Jewish permanent-residency population of Mozambique as a whole, was in 2008 approximately 20 persons. [1]
In 2010 the Jewish community of Maputo officially reorganized as Honen Dalim: The Jewish Community of Mozambique (Associação Honen Dalim - Comunidade Judaica de Moçambique). [2] The original synagogue underwent a complete renovation in 2013. It currently hosts weekly services and events for the Jewish community of Mozambique, attracting permanent residents and guests from around the world. [3] The number in the Jewish community was reported to be 35 in 2018, and described as "thriving." [4]
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo.
Portuguese Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a string of Portuguese possessions along the south-east African coast, and later became a unified colony, which now forms the Republic of Mozambique.
Maputo is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within 120 kilometres of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 distributed over a land area of 347.69 km2 (134.24 sq mi). The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered on commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture. Maputo was formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976.
Lourenço Marques was a 16th-century Portuguese trader and coloniser.
José Craveirinha was a Mozambican journalist, story writer and poet, who is today considered the greatest poet of Mozambique. His poems, written in Portuguese, address such issues as racism and the Portuguese colonial domination of Mozambique. A supporter of the anti-Portuguese group FRELIMO during the colonial wars, he was imprisoned in the 1960s. He was one of the African pioneers of the Négritude movement, and published six books of poetry between 1964 and 1997. Craveirinha also wrote under the pseudonyms Mário Vieira, José Cravo, Jesuíno Cravo, J. Cravo, J.C., Abílio Cossa, and José G. Vetrinha.
The Eduardo Mondlane University is the oldest and largest university in Mozambique. The UEM is a public university of a secular state, not affiliated with any religion and that does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, and religion. The university is located in Maputo and has about 40,000 students enrolled.
Maputo Bay, formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from Baía da Lagoa in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90 km long and 32 km wide.
The Island of Mozambique lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its rich history and sandy beaches, the Island of Mozambique is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Mozambique's fastest-growing tourist destinations. It has a permanent population of approximately 14,000 people and is served by nearby Lumbo Airport on the Nampula mainland. The name of the country, Mozambique, is derived from the name of this island.
Clube de Desportos do Maxaquene, usually known simply as Maxaquene, is a sports club based in Maputo, Mozambique. The club is nicknamed Maxaca. Currently, besides football (soccer) there are two indoor sports, namely, basketball and handball. In such sports Maxaquene is the club with the most national titles after independence. Maxaquene won its first post-independence title in football, the Taça de Moçambique, in 1978. Prior to Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, CD Maxaquene were known as Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques or simply Sporting de Lourenço Marques, and was the branch number 6 of Lisbon-based Sporting Clube de Portugal. Under this name, both the legendary Eusébio and Hilário, played for the club.
Joaquim Augusto Mouzinho de Albuquerque was a Portuguese cavalry officer. He captured Gungunhana in Chaimite (1895) and was governor-general of Mozambique. He was a grandson of Luís da Silva Mouzinho de Albuquerque.
The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, in Willemstad, Curaçao, is the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. It is commonly known as the Snoa and is a major tourist attraction in Curaçao, with one notable group of visitors including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and her family, in 1992.
Ethnic Chinese in Mozambique once numbered around five thousand individuals, but their population fell significantly during the Mozambican Civil War. After the return of peace and the expansion of Sino-Mozambican economic cooperation, their numbers have been bolstered by new expatriates from the People's Republic of China.
Ricardo Achiles Rangel was a Mozambican photojournalist and photographer.
The history of rail transport in Mozambique began in the latter years of the nineteenth century.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Maputo, Mozambique.
The Liga Moçambicana de Basquetebol (LMB), known as the Liga Mozal for sponsorship reasons, is the highest basketball league in Mozambique. Founded in 1960, the league typically consists of eight teams. The winners of the competition earn the right to play in the qualifying tournaments of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Maputo City Hall or Municipal Council Building of Maputo is the seat of the local government of the capital of Mozambique. The neoclassical building is located at the head of Praça da Independência, and was erected in 1947.
The Maputo Post Office Building is the headquarters of Correios de Moçambique, the Mozambican postal service. It was built in 1903 by the architect Carlos Rome Machado. The Portuguese State Post, which was responsible for both post and telecommunications in the Portuguese Mozambique, was located in the building until 1975. The building has housed the state postal company since independence. As postal service in Mozambique remains limited, the government waterworks and the Bank BCI use a portion of the customer counter of the building.
The history of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, traces its origins back over 500 years, when a fishing village developed by Maputo Bay on the site where the modern city of Maputo now stands. The first Europeans to discover the bay were Portuguese navigators led by António de Campo in 1502. In 1544, the Portuguese merchant and explorer Lourenço Marques reached the bay and named it Delagoa Bay. The Portuguese established a fort on the site, but were soon forced to abandon it. In 1721, the Dutch East India Company established Fort Lydsaamheid on the bay, but abandoned it due to conflicts with local Africans and the unhealthy environment. In the mid-18th century, the Portuguese returned to the bay, selling ivory to British ships carrying Indian textiles. In 1773, William Bolts of the Trieste Company reached the bay and claimed it for the Holy Roman Empire. Bolts and the Austrians were forced out in 1781 by Portuguese ships sent from Goa.
The Fort Nossa Senhora da Conceição of Lourenço Marques, nowadays known as the Maputo Fortress is located at Praça 25 de Junho and represents one of the main historical monuments of the city of Maputo, former Lourenço Marques, in Mozambique.
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