The Construction of Jewish Identity in Nineteenth-Century Serbia: The Case of the Musician Josif Schlesinger

Abstract

This article explores the status of Josif Schlesinger (1794-1870), the first Serbian composer and professional musician in the court of Prince Miloš Obrenović (1780-1860), in the complex process of constructing Jewish identity in the web of Jewish legislation at the crossroads of the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires. Schlesinger was singled out as one of the most prominent Jews in the Principality of Serbia. His status was far more favourable than that of Jews of other professions, especially merchants. The attitude of the Serbian government towards Jews during most of the nineteenth century can be divided into two periods. During the first period, until the early 1840s, Jews were free to work, travel, and settle, while during the second period, which lasted until the Serbians achieved independence in 1878, Serbia had anti-Semitic laws that suppressed Jewish rights to work, travel, and settle. The anti-Jewish laws were so strict that the Alliance Israélite Universelle had to write to the major European forces during the talks leading to the Treaty of Berlin to inform them of the situation in Serbia; the anti-Semitic laws were abolished almost a decade later. The change of policy towards Jews in the 1840s was due to the economic interests of a part of the Serbian merchant elite, which was also very involved in trade and commerce. In the long period after the introduction of the first anti-Semitic laws, the majority of the Serbian government became very hostile toward the Jews. Jewish merchants were not supposed to work and live outside of their neighbourhood in Belgrade. According to Schlesinger himself, Jewish musicians enjoyed a different social status as members of a rare profession. In this article, the authors also focus on the problem of music migration from northern parts of the Habsburg Empire both to its south and to the newly (in 1867) established independent Principality of Serbia. The authors’ approach is based not only on an intersection of military and political history but also on a sociological perspective on migration and the issues of minorities which deepens the musicological approach to the issue of "Jewishness" and music.

U ovom članku istražuje se status Josifa Šlezingera (1794-1870), prvog srpskog kompozitora i profesionalnog muzičara na dvoru kneza Miloša Obrenovića (1780-1860), u složenom procesu konstruisanja jevrejskog identiteta u mreži jevrejskog zakonodavstva na raskrsnici Osmanskog i Habzburškog carstva. Šlezinger je izdvojen kao jedan od najistaknutijih Jevreja u Kneževini Srbiji. Njegov status je bio daleko povoljniji od položaja Jevreja drugih profesija, posebno trgovaca. Odnos srpske vlasti prema Jevrejima tokom većeg dela devetnaestog veka može se podeliti na dva perioda. Tokom prvog perioda, sve do ranih 1840-ih, Jevreji su bili slobodni da rade, putuju i naseljavaju se, dok je u drugom periodu, koji je trajao sve dok Srbi nisu stekli nezavisnost 1878. godine, Srbija imala antisemitske zakone koji su suzbijali pravo Jevreja na rad, putovanje i nastanjivanje. Antijevrejski zakoni bili su toliko strogi da je Alliance Israélite Universelle morala da piše glavnim evropskim silama tokom pregovora koji su vodili do Berlinskog ugovora da ih obavesti o situaciji u Srbiji; antisemitski zakoni su ukinuti skoro deceniju kasnije. Promena politike prema Jevrejima 1840-ih godina bila je posledica ekonomskih interesa dela srpske trgovačke elite, koja se takođe veoma bavila zanatstvom i trgovinom. U dugom periodu nakon donošenja prvih antisemitskih zakona, većina članova srpske vlade postala je veoma neprijateljski raspoložena prema Jevrejima. Jevrejski trgovci nisu smeli da rade i žive van svog naselja u Beogradu. Prema samom Šlezingeru, jevrejski muzičari su uživali drugačiji društveni status kao pripadnici retke profesije. U ovom članku autori se fokusiraju i na problem migracije muzike iz severnih delova Habzburškog carstva, kako na njegov jug, tako i u tek (1867. godine) uspostavljenu nezavisnu Kneževinu Srbiju. Pristup autora se zasniva ne samo na preseku vojne i političke istorije, već i na sociološkoj perspektivi migracija i pitanja manjina što produbljuje muzikološki pristup pitanju "jevrejstva" i muzike.