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Who Was Edmond Safra, the Jewish Billionaire at the Heart of Netflix’s ‘Murder in Monaco’?

JL;DR SUMMARY Edmond Safra, the subject of Netflix's documentary "Murder in Monaco," was a Jewish billionaire and revered banker who died under mysterious circumstances in a 1999 Monaco apartment fire. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish HistoryJewish PhilanthropySephardic CommunityNetflix DocumentaryBankingParkinson's DiseaseEdmond SafraMurder In MonacoLily SafraMonaco

Places mentioned

Monaco
"who was killed, along with one of the nurses in his employ, Vivian Torrente, in an apartment fire deemed to be arson. Safra, who was battling Parkinsons, was 67 when he died in the bathroom of his Monaco penthouse."
Brazil
"urged the family to move to Brazil, where they opened Banco Safra."
New York, United States
"He was the founder of Republic New York Corporation and Republic National Bank of New York, which catered to wealthy private clients."
Geneva, Switzerland
"He also founded the private Trade Development Bank in Geneva, which he later sold to American Express."
Beirut, Lebanon
"Edmond Safra was born in Beirut, into a family whose banking roots, according to the website of the Edmond Safra Synagogue in New York, date back to the Ottoman Empire."
Syria
"His father, Jacob Safra, was a Jew from Aleppo, Syria, who opened a bank in Beirut."
Israel
"Safra was incredibly committed to his Jewish faith and history. He was known for championing Jewish causes in Israel and the diaspora, and especially for his dedication to his Sephardic community and Jews from Aleppo."
New York, United States
"Practically every institution opened in the Middle Eastern Jewish community would think first about how they can count on Safra."
Switzerland
"The Shema prayer is inscribed on his grave in Geneva, and the Hebrew words tzadik beemunato yichye, a just man lives in his faith, from the book of Habakkuk."
Jerusalem, Israel
"Safra was expected to be buried in Israel, where the family helped establish many a synagogue, but security concerns at the time of his death made that too hard."
London, United Kingdom
"She lived in London, where she rubbed elbows with Prince Charles and Jacob Rothschild and organized charity events featuring Elton John."
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
"Their foundation endowed the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, the Edmond J. Safra campus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience in Brazil and the Edmond and Lily Safra Childrens Hospital in Israel, according to the New York Times."

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Cairo Item ID 71240
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Retrieved 2025-12-25 05:31:00 UTC
Curated 2025-12-25 08:30:56 UTC