Donato Manduzio was a self-taught Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 mystic

Mysticism

Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...

.

Donato was the son of Giuseppe Manduzio and Concetta Frascaria, poor peasants from San Nicandro. He did not go to school but he learned reading and writing during his military service in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After the war, he started to read extensively on religion and by 1930, he claimed to have had a vision, starting to spread his Judaizer message among the folk of his native town. Later, he contacted the Jewish authorities and organised the formal conversion of his followers known as San Nicandro Jews. The community gradually migrated to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

after Manduzio's death.

External links

• La profezia neo-ebraica di Donato Manduzio a San Nicandro
• La singolare storia di Donato Manduzio e dei suoi