Pinto, Isaac

Pinto, Isaac

(1720–91) merchant, scholar, patriot; birthplace unknown. A Sephardic Jew, he appeared first as a merchant in Connecticut and then to have settled in New York City by 1751. He translated the Evening Service of Roshashanah and Kippur (1761) and the Prayers for Shabbath, Rosh-Hashanah, and Kippur (1766), the first Jewish prayer books to be printed in America. An ardent patriot, he signed the Non-Importation Act (1765). Although he moved about over the years, he was buried in New York City.