Lafitte, Jewish Pirate of the Caribbean

Yes, there were indeed Jewish pirates. Ed Kritzler has written a history of the seafaring scoundrels:

"The Jewish pirates were Sephardic. Once they were kicked out of Spain (in 1492), the more adventurous Jews went to the New World," said Kritzler. The phenomenon of Jewish piracy begins quite a bit earlier. In the time of the Second Temple (63 BCE), Jewish historian Flavius Josephus records that Hyrcanus accused Aristobulus, his brother and leader of the Hashmonaim, of "acts of piracy at sea."

A more famous Jewish pirate – and one researched by Kritzler - was Jean Lafitte, aka, the Corsair or the Buccaneer. His family fled from Spain for France in 1765 after his maternal grandfather was put to death for Judaism.

Lafitte was "unique" according to Edward Glick of the Jerusalem Post:

He was a Sephardi Jew, as was his first wife, who was born in the Danish Virgin Islands.

In his prime, Lafitte ran not just one pirate sloop but a whole fleet of them simultaneously. He even bought a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, which he used as a front for fencing pirate loot. And he was one of the few buccaneers who didn't die in battle, in prison or on the gallows.

During a plane trip, Glick happened to meet one of Lafitte's direct descendants, Melvyn Lafitte, who filled him in on more of the story:

"Our family, originally named Lefitto, lived in the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. When Ferdinand and Isabella reconquered Spain and expelled the Muslims and the Jews in 1492, most of the Jews fled to North Africa. Others went to the Balkans or to Greece and Turkey. But some Sephardi Jews, my ancestors among them, crossed the Pyrenees and settled in France, where Jean was born in about 1780. He moved to French Santo Domingo during the Napoleonic period. However, a slave rebellion forced him to flee to New Orleans. Eventually, he became a pirate, but he always called himself a privateer because that label has a more legal ring to it.

"In 1814, the British sought his aid in their pending attack on New Orleans," he continued. "However, he passed their plans to the Americans and helped General Andrew Jackson beat them in 1815. A grateful Jackson, not yet president, saw to it that Lafitte and his family became American citizens."

Wikipedia: Anonymous portrait said to be of Jean Lafitte in the early 19th century, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas

Comments

[Rob B]

Arrrrgh, Oi vai iz mir Matey!

[CraigC]

In his prime, Lafitte ran not just one pirate sloop but a whole fleet of them simultaneously. He even bought a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, which he used as a front for fencing pirate loot.

Of course he did.

[Annick Le Doux]

Jean Lafitte b:1774 d: 1858 - He was born inSaint Seurin close to Gradignan in the Dpt. of Aquitaine, etc... He died in France and had a 5 pages will

[Phil Levin]

I lived on Lafitte Court in a development named "Orleans Village,", in Northern Virginia for eight years.

Pirates were seen only once each year, at the end of October. Not a drop of blood to be seen, only cranky kids with candy-ache bellies.

I will sail the Caribbean Sea in February 2011, hope to see a fleet of pirate ships -
all landsmen.