I believe that this presentation came from the late Sergio Gutierrez on 2010-03-17 in LA. I think that someone named Miguel Tran....? reposted it on this site. I was able to only download a portion of this presentation? Is there anyone that can assist me in getting a copy of the full text? Thanks, Rolando Romo
I honestly don't know if the Gutierrez that you mentioned is the same one. I remember that he seemed to be from Bolivia and that he passed away some 5 to 7 years after the Los Angeles presentation was made. Sorry that I can't provide more information on him.
I have not connected the Romo family to the ha Levi family but it would not surprise me. My Grandfather J HERMENEGILDO Romo Franco told me that we descended from Jews but never gave details He stated that presently our family was Roman Catholic but that family had a past with a different religion. It was his way of saying that we had Jewish ancestors. “ Diego el Romo” was accused of Blasphemy in 1569 by the inquisition. This Diego lived in the same area as my Romo ancestors.
My ancestor Diego Romo de Vivar is a grandchild of “Juan Luis Rincon and Maria Romo” who lived at the same time, and in the same area, as Diego el Romo.
Rick A. Ricci
Thank you, Mr. Ricci. I am certain that there is a Jewish connection to the Romo family. The article that I previously inquired about cites the name of one of my ancient direct ancestors in Spain as having been Jewish. This would be Maria Rangel del Peguero, wife of Diego Romo de Vivar. This is why I would like to obtain a complete copy of this presentation/article. Also, I had a medical doctor that was an expert on Hispanic/Jewish genealogy and a bishop in the Church of the Latter-Day Saints that both seemed very confident that Romo has a Sephardic connection.
Should I obtain a complete copy of this document, I will try to re-post it in Nuestros Ranchos for others to study.
She is also one of my direct ancestors. Have you found further information on her family background? Thank you.
I have not connected the Romo family to the ha Levi family but it would not surprise me. My Grandfather J HERMENEGILDO Romo Franco told me that we descended from Jews but never gave details. He stated that presently our family was Roman Catholic but that family had a past with a different religion. It was his way of saying that we had Jewish ancestors. But these Jewish ancestors that he was talking about could have come from any of his ancestral lines, and not from a direct Romo ancestry. My grandfather is a third cousin to Santo Toribio Romo twice.
Diego el Romo was accused of Blasphemy in 1569 by the inquisition. I still haven’t connected this Diego el Romo to my family line but he is from the same area as my Romo ancestors
Rick A. Ricci
I read yesterday that Franco is a Sephardic surname. The Inquisition is a topic people seldom talk about. I think the Nazi atrocities of WWII overshadowed it. Back in 2016 there was an exhibit about the Inquisition at the historical museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They had a family tree that showed the Jewish lineage erased. I wish I could have seen that.
Hello Alice,
I would have liked to have seen that lineage that you say was erased. Many lineages that uncover jewish ancestors have been erased It is a complex and touchy subject with many people and that is why the inquisition is a topic that is seldom talked about. Claims of Jewish ancestry is complex.
Diego Romo de Vivar’s grandfather, Juan Luis del Rincon, was an official of the inquisition. The family was Catholic in the 1500’s. Claims of any Jewish ancestors would have to be in the 1400’s or before. The Romos in the Villas de Rielves, Fuensalida, Fuentes, and Borox were practicing Roman Catholics. Diego Romo de Vivar’s great uncle, brother to his grandfather, is Rafael del Rincon who was also an official of the inquisition. The claims that the Romo family ancestral line had a Jewish background has been unverified, but they go back to a Jewish woman in the 1300’s. But as of this date, May 21, 2026, I have not been able to find any primary documents that connect to that woman as the only proven ancestry that I have goes back to about 1500. The Ruiz de Esparza who are part of my Romo ancestry do have Jewish ancestral roots but those roots also go back to the 1300’s and the Ruiz de Esparza family are practicing Catholics in the 1400s and 1500s.
There was a commingling of jewish and Catholic families and this brought much confusion as members of families belonged to different religions. There were many Noble families that had some jewish lineages in their family tree that were hidden or disguised when people were attacked for having any jewish blood. Many families that had some Jewish ancestors would claim to be of pure blood with no Jewish ancestry, and would do it with good conscience, because they believed that since their ancestors had converted over a century or two ago, that their family should be considered long time Catholics. And many descendants of the Ha Levi family claimed to be of pure blood Catholics as they claimed that Mary the mother of Jesus was part of the Ha Levi family. Both The king and the Vatican issued proclamations that the Ha Levi family was to be considered long time Catholics and of pure blood for this reason.
There has been some interesting developments in the latest research of our Franco de Paredes and Martin del Campo lines by genealogist Jorge Barba Gomez. He has upturned the the cart on Lazaro Martin del Campo’s parents and brought up interesting information on the Franco de Paredes origin in Spain.
Good luck in your research,
Rick A. Ricci
Hello Alice,
I found the proposed Rangel to Ha Levi ancestral line. We discussed it here on nuestrosranchos in another thread. There are mistakes in that line. I will do more research before posting it again.
Thanks for bringing this up again,
Rick A. Ricci
“ late Sergio Gutierrez”