CÓRDOBA

Capital of the province of Córdoba, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir River, in Andalusia, south Spain. Taken by Rome (152 b.c.), it was the capital (Corduba ) of the conventus of Betica.

Early History. It was attacked without success by the Visigoth Agila (549), regained from the Byzantines by Leovigildus (572), and had to be reconquered when it sided with Hermenigild (583). Under the umayyads (711–1031), it became an independent emirate (756) and a caliphate (929). As a petty kingdom, it was reconquered from the Moors by ferdinand iii (1236).

Córdoba, the birthplace of seneca, became Romanized and Christianized very early. The martyr Acisclus may be of the third century. The first known bishop, Hosius (d. 357), persecuted under diocletian (303), was a councilor of constantine i and presided at the Council of nicaea i. Prudentius praised other martyrs of Córdoba under Diocletian: Faustus, januarius, Martial and Zoilus. A ninth-century passio makes the legendary Victoria a companion martyr of Acisclus, but she is not mentioned by ninth-century authors in Córdoba. Bishop Higinius c. 380, with the metropolitan of mÉrida, acted against "abstainer" precursors of Priscillianism. According to walafrid strabo, Emperor Theodosius I (379–395) praised Bishop Gregory for the pastoral and liturgical organization of the diocese; he commemorated the feasts of martyrs in Mass daily. Eight other bishops signed councils, from Stephen in Rome (503) to Zaccheus in Toledo (693).

The many Christians in Córdoba under Arab rule had freedom of cult with numerous basilicas and monasteries in the area and what must have been an outstanding school of Latin culture under Abbot Esperaindeo. An important Latin chronicle of 754 seems to have been written in Córdoba by a high ecclesiastic. But the Christians, later called Mozarabs, were molested, especially after Malachites arrived from the East in the late eighth century. They paid a high tribute, and whoever spoke ill of Muhammad or Islam paid the death penalty, as did the children of Christian-Muslim marriages who were known to practice the Christian faith. Molestations led to persecution and martyrdom. In 824 and 825 Adulfus and John, sons of Arab nobility, whose Christian mother Artemia later governed a monastery famous throughout the area, were martyred.

Arab Persecution. The great persecution that claimed some 50 victims (850–859) was provoked by Muslims who questioned the priest Perfectus, who knew Arabic, about his opinion of their prophet, promising not to prosecute him, but later making a public sacrifice of him at the end of Ramadan (850). The martyrdom created religious tension and led to a strong reaction on the part of Christians, many not natives of Córdoba. eulogius, who was looked to for guidance on his return from a trip to north Spain, where he had seen a free and flourishing Christianity, reports the martyrdoms in detail and defends the martyrs in his writings. Some martyrs voluntarily came before the qadi and called Muhammad an imposter,

identifying themselves with Perfectus: Isaac, a rich noble who knew Arabic and was a government official before becoming a monk; the merchant John; a group of six monks—in all, 13 martyrs in 851. Of 13 martyrs in 852 the most important were aurelius and sabigotona, martyred with George, a monk from Jerusalem and the subject of another Muslim ruler. Of seven martyrs in 853 columba and Pomposa are noteworthy. Of ten martyrs (854–856) argimir and aurea are noteworthy because of their noble birth and high status among ruling Arabs. Some of the martyrs were rash: Emila and Jeremias, and Rogellus and Servus Dei, who entered the crowded mosque to preach Christ.

The martyrdom of Flora and Maria (851), innocent Christian daughters of a Muslim father, seems to have increased tension to such a point that in alarm officials convoked a council under Reccafred, metropolitan of Seville, who was opposed to a contest with Islam. The council in ambiguous terms discouraged future martyrdoms; but provocations, assertions and martyrdoms continued until Eulogius was slain (859) for having sheltered Leocritia, daughter of a Muslim father, from persecution by her brother. In 858 the martyrdoms drew usuard and Odilard, monks of saint-germain-des-pres in Paris to Córdoba in search of relics. The emirs as a rule ordered the relics of the martyrs destroyed to prevent veneration by the Christians. Many Christians did not support the martyrs and after Eulogius there were but few, mostly in the tenth century.

Alcuin claimed that adoptionism, headed by eli pandus of toledo and Felix of Urgel, was spawned in Córdoba. According to albar, pupil of Esperaindeo and the author of a vita of Eulogius, it did infest Betica. Cassianist heretics were condemned at a council in Córdoba (839) attended by the three metropolitans of Spain (Toledo, Mérida and Seville). Anti-Trinitarian and anthropomorphic heresies also spread. The correspondence of Albar shows interest in and disputes about dogma and discipline. Saul, Córdoba's bishop during the persecution, seems to have been a venerable man. The lengthy Apologeticus of the Abbot Samson (864) is the last work of the Latin renaissance in Córdoba; but the activity of collecting and copying Latin texts may have had a more lasting influence.

The first caliph, ‘Abd-ar-Raḥmān III, had the Christian Recemundus, head of his chancery, made bishop of Elvira for performing embassies to the Ottonian and Byzantine courts. Recemundus's calendar of Christian saints, compiled in Arabic and dedicated to Al Hakam II, offers much information on the Christian cult in Córdoba. With reputedly a library of 50,000 volumes, Córdoba was a major Arabic cultural center from which Eastern learning was transmitted to Europe. Neither the Almoravides nor the Almohades, however, made it a capital; and it declined in favor of Seville. maimonides and his family left Córdoba when it was taken by the Almohades (1148); averroËs (1126–98) became known to the Latin world c. 1230. The last known bishop of Córdoba before its reconquest by ferdinand iii in 1236 was John (988).

The episcopacy was restored with Lope de Fitero (1237–45), and the mosque became the cathedral of the Assumption. In 1241 the city received a special fuero based on the Visigothic Forum iudicum. Many monasteries were founded after the reconquest, and again in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. As in other places in Spain, there was a strong reaction against the Jews c. 1400. The Inquisition, established in 1482, had a fervent supporter in Diego Rodrigo Lucero c. 1500; and there were many autos-da-fé to c. 1750. Natives of Córdoba were Ambrosio de Morales, learned historian of the Renaissance, the poet Luis de Góngora and the artists Pablo de Cespedes (1538–1608) and Juan de Mesa. Blessed john of avila and Blessed diego of cÁdiz carried on a great deal of their apostolate in Córdoba.

Art and Architecture. The cathedral, once a mosque, begun in 786, has 19 naves with more than 1,000 columns, many taken from Roman and Visigothic monuments. The cathedral proper, with a magnificent choir and an elegant bell tower, was built in the 16th century. Its treasures include a monstrance by the goldsmith Enrique de Arfe. S. Miguel has a tenth-century baptismal chapel. The 13th-century S. Pablo is built on an Almohad palace. S. Marina has a Moorish chapel (15th century). S. Bartolomé has a portico with Visigothic capitals. All the churches are rich in paintings. In 1548 the College of the Assumption was founded and in 1794 Ventura Rodríguez built the Santa Victoria school for children and San Pelayo seminary.

Bibliography: h. flÓrez et al., España sagrada, 54 v. (Madrid 1747–1957) v.10. j. gÓmez bravo, Catálogo de los obispos de Córdoba, 2 v. (Córdoba 1778). l. m. ramÍrez de las casas deza, "Anales de la Ciudad de Córdoba (1236–1850)," Boletín de la Real Academia de Ciencias, Bellas Letras y Nobles Artes de Córdoba (Córdoba 1948). i. de las cagigas, Los Mozárabes, 2 v. (Madrid 1947–48). f. j. simonet, Historia de los Mozárabes de España (Madrid 1903). f. r. franke, "Die freiwilligen Märtyrer von Cordova …," Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kulturgeschichte Spaniens, 13 (Span. Aufsätze der Görresgesellschaft; Münster 1958) 1–170. e. p. colbert, The Martyrs of Córdoba, 850–859: A Study of the Sources (Washington 1962). c. m. sage, Paul Albar of Córdoba: Studies in His Life and Writings (Washington 1943). s. alcolea, Córdoba: Guías artísticas de España (Barcelona 1951). l. torres balbÁs, La mezquita de Córdoba y las ruinas de Madinat al-Zahra (Madrid 1952). f. pÉrez, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 13:837–871.

[j. vives]

Córdoba

THE PROVINCE

The central province of Argentina, Córdoba encompasses 65,161 square miles and has a population of 3,066,801 (2001). Located between the Río Dulce in the north and the Río Quinto in the south, the province of Córdoba stretches across three physiographic units: the eastern pampa, the Sierra de Córdoba, and the interior pampa. Its center is occupied by the Sierra de Córdoba, a crystalline-metamorphic massif rising to a maximum height of 9,817 feet in the Cerro Champaquí. Among the minerals extracted from this sierra and adjacent ranges are manganese, beryl, bismuth, and wolfram. Air purity and cooler temperatures have converted many mountain villages (especially in the Punilla Valley) into spa resorts, frequented by Córdobans and residents of the pampa during the hot summers. In the humid pampa plains east of the sierra, the dominant activity is raising cattle for either meat or dairy production. However, owing to the relatively ample water supply from the Sierra de Córdoba, large areas along the eastern slope and the pampa have specialized in the production of wheat (the main agricultural commodity of the province), rye, maize, flax, peanuts, millet, and alfalfa. Recently, the land dedicated to soybean production has increased to the same degree that the land producing wheat has decreased. Of lesser agricultural significance is the segment of the pampa between the western slope of the sierra and the foothills of the Andes. Excessive aridity and lack of water have created a semidesert landscape; the salt flats of Salinas Grandes and Pampa de Salinas are the most significant examples.

THE CITY

The city of Córdoba (2001 population 1,272,334) was founded on 6 July 1573 by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, governor of Tucumán, in order to facilitate the transit between Alto Perú and Santa María del Buen Aire (now Buenos Aires) on the Río De La Plata estuary. The city lies on the banks of the Río Primero, at the eastern slopes of the Sierra de Córdoba. By 1584 forty landholders with trusted Indians settled in the peaceful town to practice agriculture and cattle ranching, and in 1599 the Jesuits opened a mission there. In 1623 Bishop Fernando de Trejo y Sanabria founded the University of Córdoba on the site of what had been a Jesuit academy (1613), and several administrative services were established in the growing town as agricultural activities developed and wealth accumulated. Soon Córdoba competed with Tucumán as a major trading center in the Río de la Plata hinterland: In 1622 an inland custom was instituted to stop the smuggling of European merchandise from the estuary into the interior.

When it was declared the seat of the Intendancy of Córdoba in 1783, with jurisdiction over the provinces of Córdoba, La Rioja, Mendoza, San Juan, and San Luis, the city of Córdoba gained in prestige as one of the most prosperous, cultured, aristocratic, and Spain-oriented settlements in the Río de la Plata region. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious orders flocked to the city. The numerous churches, such as the cathedral and the Church of the Compañía de Jesús, are testimony to their presence and influence. At the time independence was declared by the Buenos Aires junta on 25 May 1810, the authorities of Córdoba voted to remain faithful to the king of Spain. A split from and rivalry with Buenos Aires ensued, and Córdoba became one of the most stubborn supporters of the autonomy of the Platine provinces. Rulers of Buenos Aires, such as Bernardino Rivadavia, Juan Manuel de Rosas, Manuel Dorrego, Juan Galo Lavalle, Juan Quiroga, and Manuel López, tried to subdue the rebellious interior province, which in the process was torn apart by internal strife. It was not until 1868 that Governor Félix de la Peña was able to establish order and harmony in the province.

In 1870 a railway line was opened between Córdoba and the capital city of Buenos Aires, accelerating the integration of the region into the national mainstream and promoting active colonization of the interior Pampa. Yet occasional outbursts of dissension continued to perpetuate the traditional enmity between Córdoba and Buenos Aires: in 1880 conservative and Catholic sectors of Córdoba strongly opposed the laicist laws discussed in the congress of Buenos Aires, and throughout republican times the city's elites were at odds with the political leaders of Buenos Aires over accepting foreigners without a patriarchal family background. In the 1950s Juan Perón was resisted not only because of his attacks against the Catholic hierarchy but also because of his plebeian origin, and in 1955 the army uprising that overthrew Perón was started by General Eduardo Leonardi in the artillery barracks of Córdoba. Similarly, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, a member of the Peronist Party and Argentina's first woman president, did not win in this city.

Nonconformism and rebelliousness have not been the hallmark exclusively of the conservative circles of Córdobans. In 1969 workers and students from that city initiated the Cordobazo, a massive rebellion that brought an end to the rule of General Juan C. Onganía. During subsequent military governments, montonero guerrillas effectively attacked military and government targets in the city of Córdoba, keeping military rulers at bay.

The metropolitan perimeter of Córdoba stretches over a gentle slope between 1,320 and 1,650 feet. Originally the settlement spread out from the left bank of the Río Primero. Later, it expanded along the river into the General Paz and San Vicente boroughs. Early in the twentieth century the city grew toward the western slope, where today most military garrisons are established. After World War II the most accelerated development took place along the highway leading to Buenos Aires and Rosario. Along this artery are located most of the industrial establishments of the city: automobile factories, chemical and fertilizer plants, factories of electromechanical equipment, and food-processing plants.

Since colonial times, Córdoba has benefited from good communications with neighboring and distant regions. Railway lines of the General Belgrano and Bartolomé Mitre systems connect the city with Rosario and Buenos Aires to the southeast; with Tucumán, La Rioja, and San Juan to the north and west across the Sierra de Córdoba; and with Mendoza to the southwest, after connecting with the General San Martín railway at Mercedes. Airport Coronel Olmedo secures communications with the nation's capital and with major cities in western Argentina.

The main cultural center is the University of Córdoba, supported by the Catholic University of Córdoba, and the National Technological University. The city and province are centers for Argentine space research. An observatory was established at the University of Córdoba in 1869, and researchers there produced the first star atlas of the Southern Hemisphere, in the early 1900s. Teofilo Tabanera Space Center, devoted to space investigation, is located in the province. In addition to being an important educational and economic center, Córdoba is the birthplace of a popular musical genre known as the cuarteto.

See alsoArgentina, Geography; Córdoba, University of; Jesuits; Onganía, Juan Carlos; Perón, Juan Domingo.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alfredo Terzaga, Geografía de Córdoba (Córdoba, 1963).

Efraín Bischoff, Historia de la provincia de Córdoba (Buenos Aires, 1968).

Raúl J. Arias, Córdoba: Cuatro siglos (Buenos Aires, 1973).

María C. Vera, Córdoba: Una historia para los argentinos (Buenos Aires, 1989.)

Additional Bibliography

Arcondo, Aníbal B. En el reino de Ceres: La expansión agraria en Córdoba, 1870–1914. Córdoba, Argentina: Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 1996.

Boixadós, María Cristina. Las tramas de una ciudad, Córdoba entre 1870 y 1895: Elite urbanizadora, infraestructura, poblamiento. Córdoba, Argentina: Ferreyra Editor, 2000.

Bravo, Fernán. Los viajes de don Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera: La fundación de Córdoba y la formación del talante ciudadano. Córdoba, Argentina: Editorial Espartaco Córdoba, 2006.

Brennan, James P. The Labor Wars in Córdoba, 1955–1976: Ideology, Work, and Labor Politics in an Argentine Industrial City. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.

Cena, Juan Carlos. El cordobazo: Una rebelión popular. Buenos Aires: La Rosa Blindada, 2000.

Florine, Jane L. Cuarteto Music and Dancing from Argentina: In Search of the Tunga-Tunga in Córdoba. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.

Mayo, Carlos A., and O. Alborés. La Historia agraria del interior: Haciendas jesuíticas de Córdoba y el Noroeste. Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina, 1994.

Parra Garzón, Gabriela. El Cabildo de Córdoba del Tucumán a través de sus documentos (1573–1600): Estudio diplomático. Córdoba, Argentina: Centro de Estudios Historicos Prof. Carlos S. A. Segreti, 2005.

Segreti, Carlos S. A. Córdoba, ciudad y provincia, siglos XVI-XX: Según relatos de viajeros y otros testimonios. 2nd ed. Córdoba, Argentina: Centro de Estudios Históricos, 1998.

                                              CÉsar N. Caviedes

CÓRDOBA

CÓRDOBA (Cordova, also Corduba ), city in Andalusia, southern Spain. According to some sources, the Jews were entrusted with the city's defense immediately after the Muslim conquest in 711. The first references to Jewish settlement in Córdoba date from 840, in a polemical exchange between the Jewish proselyte *Bodo-Eleazar and Paul Alvarus. When Córdoba became capital of the Umayyad caliphate in Spain, it also became a center of a diversified and brilliant Jewish culture. This was due in great measure to *Ḥisdai ibn Shaprut, physician and diplomat in the service of the caliph ʿAbd al-Raḥmān iii (912–961). Ibn Shaprut attracted the galaxy of philosophers, poets, and scholars, who made Córdoba a brilliant Jewish intellectual center. At this period, R. *Moses b. Ḥanokh, brought to Córdoba according to legend as a captive, was responsible for the revival of talmudic studies in Spain. A bitter dispute arose in the academy after his death when the succession of his son *Ḥanokh b. Moses was unsuccessfully disputed by his pupil Joseph *Ibn Abitur, upheld by the influential courtier Jacob *Ibn Jau.

During the 11^th century, Córdoba declined as a result of the Berber conquest. After the revival of the community in the second quarter of the 11^th century, Isaac b. Baruch *Albalia was the foremost rabbinical scholar in Córdoba. Scholars in the 12^th century included Joseph b. Jacob *Ibn Sahl, a pupil of Isaac ibn Ghayyat, who was appointed dayyan of the community in 1113, remaining in office until his death in 1123. The noted poet and halakhic authority Joseph ibn *Ẓaddik served as dayyan from 1138 to 1149. At the beginning of the 12^th century, messianic expectations were stimulated by the appearance of an Andalusian pseudo-messiah Ibn Arieh: excitement ran high until the communal leadership stopped the movement. Córdoba was the birthplace of Maimonides, born in 1135, who left the city as a result of the invasion of the *Almohades, when the Jews of Andalusia were compelled to adopt Islam and the community was destroyed.

The Jewish quarter during the Muslim period was situated near the alcazar ("fortress") southwest of the city; it continued in existence after the Christian reconquest and some parts may be seen today. A second quarter apparently existed in the northern part of the city, near the "Jewish gate" (Bāb al-Yahud – later the Talavera or León gate) which was standing until 1903. Shortly after the Christian reconquest in 1235–36 the ecclesiastical authorities in Córdoba were complaining that the new synagogue under construction was too high, and in 1250 Pope Innocent iv instructed the bishop of Córdoba to take steps against what he termed a "scandal" against Christianity. A synagogue still standing is that constructed by Isaac Moheb b. Ephraim in 1315 in the mudejar style. An adjacent room was probably used for teaching and the small assembly hall served for the bet din. The walls of the synagogue and women's gallery are embellished with quotations from the Psalms. The synagogue was declared a national monument in 1885. The Jews of Córdoba had helped to restore the economy of the city after the reconquest by Ferdinand iii of Castile. Judah *Abrabanel served as a crown official there. Shortly afterward, however, anti-Jewish restrictions were introduced as elsewhere in Castile at this time. In 1254 Alfonso x ruled that Jews should pay tithes to the ecclesiastical authorities for real estate that had passed into their hands. The community in Córdoba at this period, although smaller than that of *Toledo, was evidently still important. Córdoba Jewry engaged in a wide range of crafts, specializing in the manufacture and marketing of textiles. An extraordinary measure passed by the communal board at the end of the 13^th century provided that dayyanim were to be appointed for a period of one year only. In 1320–21 severe measures were taken by Judah *Ibn Waqar to tighten communal discipline and punish blasphemers (Resp. Rosh, 18:8). The annual tax paid by the community in 1294 amounted to about 38,000 maravedis, though the church claimed also a special annual payment of 30 denarii: this impost obviously had symbolic significance.

During the persecutions of 1391 anti-Jewish riots broke out in Córdoba in which most of the community was massacred. The annual tax of the reduced community in Córdoba in the 15^th century was raised to about 1,200 maravedis in 1474 and amounted to 1,000 maravedis in 1482. A special levy of 18 gold castellanos was imposed on the communities of Córdoba and *Palma as their contribution to the war against Granada in 1485. From Córdoba, which was their headquarters during the war, Ferdinand and Isabella issued a series of anti-Jewish measures at the end of 1478. In 1483 the Jews were ordered to leave Andalusia, and except for a brief revival in 1485 the Jewish community in Córdoba ceased to exist. The Conversos living in Córdoba during the 15^th century were fiercely persecuted; particularly violent attacks in 1473–74 made many flee to Sierra. The Conversos of Córdoba won a reputation for their attachment to Judaism, and a statement before a rabbinical court anywhere that a Converso had been educated or had studied in Córdoba was deemed sufficient evidence for him to be recognized as a Jew. The tribunal of the Inquisition established in Córdoba in 1482 comprised a large area in Andalusia within its jurisdiction, including Granada between 1492 and 1526. Many Conversos were martyred in the city in the 1480s. The inquisitor for Córdoba from 1499 until 1509, Diego Rodríguez Lucero, won a reputation for cruelty. The Inquisition in Córdoba remained active until the 18^th century. Abraham Athias, father of the printer J. *Athias, was martyred there in 1665.

The 800^th anniversary of the birth of Maimonides was officially commemorated in Córdoba in 1935, and in 1964 a Maimonides week was held. A statue was erected to his memory and a square in the former Jewish quarter was renamed Plaza Tiberias to perpetuate the connection of his birthplace with the city in Ereẓ Israel where he was buried.

bibliography:

H.C. Lea, History of the Inquisition in Spain (1906), 190–209, 544; Baer, Urkunden, 1 (1929), 913; 2 (1936), index; M. Lowenthal, A World Passed By (1933), index; Baer, Spain, index; L. Torres, in: Al-Andalus, 19 (1954), 172ff.; Millás Vallicrosa, in: Tarbiz, 24 (1954), 48–59; F. Cantera, Sinagogas Españolas (1955), 3–32; Cantera-Millás, Inscripciones, 341; Suárez Fernández, Documentos, index; B. Postal and S.H. Abramson, Landmarks of a People (1962), 217–8; Ashtor, Korot, 1 (1960), 50–56, 194–7, 238–40; 2 (1966), 133; idem, in: Zion, 28 (1963), 50–51; Ibn Daud, Tradition, index.

[Haim Beinart]

CÓRDOBA

(1) Province in Argentina, area 64,894 sq. mi. (168,075 sq. km.); population 1,759,997 (1960). In 1943 Jews were living in 98 out of the 422 communities in the province. Their total number at that time was 7,675 persons. In 1964 there were organized communities affiliated with Va'ad ha-Kehillot (see *Argentina) only in seven cities and towns. The 1960 census indicated the overall Jewish population (above five years of age) in the province to be 8,639 persons, 7,409 of whom lived in the city of Córdoba. Each year large summer camps for the Jewish youth of Argentina are organized in Córdoba. There are also Jewish hotels in many villages. In Unquillo, the Liga Israelita Argentina Contra la Tubeculosis, originally in Buenos Aires, established in 1937 a large sanatorium which was transformed in 1956 into a summer resort for underprivileged children.

(2) Capital of the above province and third largest city in Argentina. Located in the center of the country, Córdoba had in 1960 a population of 589,153. The first Jewish families arrived in Córdoba at the beginning of the 20^th century from the Jewish agricultural settlements in *Entre Ríos province. At the same time, the first Sephardi groups arrived from Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. A census conducted by Jewish Colonization Association (ica) in 1909 found about 600 Jews in Córdoba, the majority being Ashkenazim and the minority Sephardim. The same year two Ashkenazi minyanim and one Sephardi minyan were organized for the High Holy Days. A short time later the Ashkenazi community established two kehillot which united in 1915 to form the Centro Unión Israelita (Ashkenazi), under the presidency of Jaime Blank. The Sephardi community began to organize in 1917, when they founded the Sociedad Israelita Siria for Jews originating from Arab-speaking countries. In 1923 the Comunidad Israelita de Córdoba was established for Turkish and Greek Jews, and in the same year, with funds contributed by the Niño family, the first Sephardi synagogue was built. Each congregation has its own cemetery. In 1953 the Círculo Sefaradí was established as a social center for all Sephardi congregations of Córdoba. One of the main concerns of the community leaders has been the establishment of Jewish schools. The first Ashkenazi school, according to the annals of the Centro Unión Israelita, dates from 1917. The Sephardi community founded a school shortly after its communal organization began. A report dating from 1943 showed the city to have five supplementary Jewish schools (which gave instruction in Jewish subjects after regular school hours) whose total student enrollment was about 200. From 1944 the Centro Unión Israelita made efforts to improve school attendance by amalgamating the five schools and establishing a central day school. Their efforts finally succeeded in 1950 when the General San Martín school was officially recognized by the educational authorities of Córdoba. The establishment in 1957 of the Asociación Hebraica, which developed a club with sports facilities, has increased the social cohesiveness of the different communities. All Jewish community organizations belong to the local chapter of the *daia which, together with the Jewish National Fund, Keren Hayesod, and the youth movements, is housed in the large Centro Unión Israelita building. Originally employed in minor commerce (peddling, lottery tickets, cloth selling) the Jewish community has advanced to employment in the professions and heavy industry.

bibliography:

J. Hodara, in: Bi-Tefuẓot ha-Golah 2, no. 3–4 (1960), 34–40; Centro Unión Israelita de Córdoba, 50 Años 1915–1965 (1966).

[Joseph Hodara]

Córdoba (Cordova) City on the River Guadalquivir, Andalusia, s Spain; capital of Córdoba province. A flourishing centre of learning under Abd ar-Rahman III (first caliph of Córdoba), it was captured by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1236, who imposed Christian culture on the city. The Great Mosque (8th–10th century) is a world heritage site. Industries: tourism, coal and lead mining, engineering. Pop. (1998 est.) 309,961.