Raffaello Fellah was born in Tripoli in 1935. At the age of ten he lost his father, Moshe Fellah-Kish, who was murdered during the anti-Jewish riots of November 1945 (see Tripolitania Riots). Before long, and despite his youth, he began managing his father’s business and succeeded in expanding it. During the 1950s and the early 1960s, his business activities included state projects financed by King Idris and the Libyan government.

In 1967, when Libya’s remaining Jews were expelled in connection with the Six-Day War, Raffaello Fellah went to Italy, as did many othe…