Jeonathan Prato

{{Infobox ambassador

| honorific-prefix =

| name =

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| order = 1st

| ambassador_from = Israel

| country = Cuba

| term_start = 1960

| term_end = 1963

| predecessor = none

| successor = Yossef Keisari

| order2 =

| ambassador_from2 = Israel

| country2 = Costa Rica

| term_start2 = 1969

| term_end2 = 1972

| predecessor2 = Chanan Olami

| successor2 = Walter Abeles

| order3 =

| ambassador_from3 = Israel

| country3 = Nicaragua

| term_start3 = 1969

| term_end3 = 1972

| predecessor3 = Chanan Olami

| successor3 = Walter Abeles

| order4 =

| ambassador_from4 = Israel

| country4 = Honduras

| term_start4 = 1971

| term_end4 = 1972

| predecessor4 = Eliezer Armon

| successor4 = Joshua Shai

| order5 =

| office5 = Director of the Church Relations Division

| term5 = 1973–1978

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|2|16}}

| birth_place = Florence, Italy

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|1|5|1913|2|16}}

| death_place = Jerusalem, Israel

| spouse =

| party =

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession = Diplomat, lawyer

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website =

| footnotes =

| native_name = יהונתן פראטו

| native_name_lang = he

}}

Jeonathan Prato ({{Langx|he|יהונתן פראטו}}; 16 February 1913 – 5 January 2006) was a lawyer, a yishuv envoy, and an Israeli diplomat.

Early life

Jeonathan Prato was born on 16 February 1913 in Florence, Italy, where his father, David Prato, was the Chief Cantor. The father went on to become Rabbi of Alexandria (1927–1936). Meanwhile, Jeonathan Prato obtained a Ph.D. in Law and made aliyah in 1936.{{cite news|newspaper=Maariv|date=5 June 1962|title=הנזיר דיבר עברית רהוטה; ד״ר יהונתן פראטו, שנתמנה לציר ישראל בבלגראד, מעלה זכרונות מעבודותו ביוון‭ ‬|trans-title=The monk spoke fluent Hebrew; Dr. Jeonatan Prato, who was appointed Israeli envoy to Belgrade, reminisces about his work in Greece|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1962/06/05/01/article/26/|page=4|via=National Library of Israel|access-date=25 November 2022}} [Prof. Rabbi David Prato became Chief Rabbi of Rome (1936–1938 and again 1945–1951) and lived in Tel Aviv in between.{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|title=Prato, David|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/prato-david|access-date=25 November 2022}}]

Career

In Mandatory Palestine, Dr. Prato worked initially as a teacher of Italian and head of the Italian section of the British governmental Jerusalem Calling radio station. In 1940, Dr. Jeonathan Prato and his father negotiated as emissaries for the yishuv with the Italian and Vatican authorities a plan to rescue Jews from Poland through Italy.{{cite news |date=15 February 1940|access-date=25 November 2022|trans-title=Will Italy provide temporary asylum to Jewish refugees from Poland?|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/omer/1940/02/15/01/article/8/ |newspaper=Omer |title=?התתן איטליה מקלט זמני לפליטים יהודים מפולין|via=National Library of Israel|page=1}} In 1941, Jeonathan Prato was named a lawyer.{{cite news|title=הוכתר לעורך דין|trans-title=Named a lawyer|newspaper=Hatzofe|date=2 May 1941|access-date=25 November 2022|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hzh/1941/05/02/01/article/55/|page=4|via=National Library of Israel}}

= Israeli foreign service =

On 1 May 1949, Jeonathan Prato joined the foreign service of the young State of Israel. Initially he worked at the Israeli embassy in Italy, then in Argentina after an interlude in Israel. In 1959, Israel's foreign minister Golda Meir appointed Prato diplomatic envoy in Athens.{{cite news|newspaper=Haaretz|date=16 October 1959|access-date=25 November 2022|title=יהונתן פראטו - ציר מוסמך באתונה|trans-title=Jeonathan Prato - accredited envoy in Athens |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/haretz/1959/10/16/01/article/40/|page=2|via=National Library of Israel}} Next, Jeonathan Prato served as the Minister to Cuba (1960-1963).{{cite news|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/ajnm/1962/07/13/01/article/3/|newspaper=The Australian Jewish News|date=13 July 1962|access-date=25 November 2022|title=Trade Pact|agency=United Press International|via=National Library of Israel}}{{cite news|newspaper=LaMerhav|date=24 March 1963|access-date=25 November 2022|title=ציר ישראל בקובה סיים כהונתו|trans-title=Israeli envoy to Cuba completed his term|page=1|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/lmrv/1963/03/24/01/article/5/|via=National Library of Israel}}

As an advisor for church relations, Prato welcomed Pope Paul VI in 1964 to Israel at the Ta'anakh Crossing.{{cite news|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hzh/1964/01/05/01/article/18/|date=5 January 1964|access-date=25 November 2022|title=הנשיא יקבל את פני האפיפיור במגידו|trans-title=The President will receive the Pope in Megiddo|newspaper=Hatzofe|via=National Library of Israel|page=1}} From 1969 to 1972, Prato served as Ambassador in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. During the last year, this position also included Honduras. Prato managed the Church Relations Division from 1973 until his retirement from the foreign service on 28 February 1978.{{cite web |title=Jeonathan Prato archive.: -Archive of Jeonathan Prato. 1935-1996 |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/archives/NNL_ARCHIVE_AL002601873/NLI |website=National Library of Israel|access-date=25 November 2022}} In his retirement, he worked another 5 years as an archivist.

Personal and legacy

In 1951, Dr. Jeonathan Prato donated historical chairs to the Bezalel National Museum (that later merged into the Israel Museum), in memory of his father.{{cite news|newspaper=Al Hamishmar|date=20 July 1951|access-date=25 November 2022|title=כסאות עתיקים לבית הנכות|trans-title=Ancient chairs to the museum|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/ahr/1951/07/20/01/article/58/|via=National Library of Israel}}

= The Prato Haggadah =

Also in 1951, Prato received into his possession a famous Haggadah that was created around the year 1300. This Haggadah had been the personal property of the famous Rome-based art-dealer, scholar and collector Ludwig Pollak. Pollak and his family are thought to have been murdered in the course of the deportation of the Jews of Rome to Auschwitz on October 23, 1943 or upon arrival at Auschwitz.{{Cite book |last=Oren |first=Dan A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1046657980 |title=The wedding photo |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-692-13981-3 |edition= |location=Connecticut |oclc=1046657980}} This book had initially been promised to the father of Prato.

Jeonathand Prato sold the haggadah in 1964 to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.{{cite news|date=10 April 2008|access-date=25 November 2022|newspaper=The Detroit Jewish News|title=Timeless; Medieval Haggadah manuscript makes its way from Spain to Southfield|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.2008.04.10.001/55|first=Shelli|last=Liebman Dorfman}} It is still known as the Prato Haggadah.{{cite web|url=http://cja.huji.ac.il/browser.php?mode=set&id=702|work=The Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art|publisher=Hebrew University of Jerusalem|title=Prato Haggadah, Spain, c. 1300|access-date=25 November 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-season/2016/the-prato-haggadah|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|title=The Haggadah of Five Questions|date=21 April 2016|access-date=25 November 2022|first1=Barbara|last1=Drake Boehm|first2=Melanie|last2=Holcomb}}{{cite web|title=Art: Prato Haggadah|publisher=Annenberg Foundation|url=https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-a-global-view/writing/prato-haggadah-folio-11r/|series=Art Through Time: A Global View|access-date=25 November 2022}}

= Family and death =

Prato was married and had one child. He died on 5 January 2006, aged 92, in Jerusalem.{{cite web|url=https://hkj.org.il/deceased/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%98%D7%95-%D7%99%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%AA%D7%9F/|title=פראטו יהונתן|trans-title=Prato Jeonathan|publisher=Burial Society of Jerusalem|access-date=25 November 2022}} Prato was buried on Har HaMenuchot.