David Pacifico

Pacifico, David (1784-1854). The case of ‘Don Pacifico’ provided Palmerston with a great oratorical triumph. A Portuguese Jew, Pacifico was born in Gibraltar and was therefore a British subject. In 1847, while a merchant in Athens, his house was destroyed in an anti-Jewish riot. The Greek government refused compensation, believing that his claim was inflated, whereupon Palmerston sent a naval squadron to the Piraeus and seized all Greek vessels. Palmerston's stand earned him vast popularity and established his domination of politics for the rest of his life.