The Hanukoglu family name started with our father Moshe Hanukoglu and mother Sinyora Djeni Benezra. Our father was born in Kutaisi, Georgia, in 1902, as the eldest son of Yitshak Enukashvili (ენუქაშვილი) and Abigail Tavdidishvili (ენუქაშვილი). The last name Enukashvili in Georgian means "the son of Enuka", which according to the linguist Prof. Reuven Enukashvili, may originate from the Hebrew name Hanoch (חנוך). Our father immigrated to Turkey in about 1920. His family from Georgia later followed him to Turkey. In Turkey, he changed his name to Hanukoglu at the time of the new regulations about Family last names. Similar to the "shvili" suffix in Georgian, the word "oğlu" in Turkish means also "the son of". Our parents got married in 1942 in Istanbul and raised their family there. The whole family immigrated to Israel in 1970.
On the maternal side, our family originates from the Sephardic Jewish families, Benezra (בן עזרא) and Behar (בכר), who emigrated from Spain after the expulsion of the Jews from there in 1492. My grandfather was born in Çorlu, and grandmother in Kırklareli. For further information see the page on Turkish Jews.
Most of the aunts and uncles from both sides of the family made Aliyah to Israel in their youth, either before the declaration of Israel's independence (1948) or in the early 1950's.
Our uncle Avraham Enukashvili (אברהם אנוקשווילי) (z"l) was one of the early pioneers. After immigration, he joined the pre-state Hagana forces. He fought on the Northern front against invading Syrian troops and was killed in 1948 (See Israel Defense Forces' National Remembrance site).
Family Genealogy
I am working on the genealogy of the following families:
Paternal side: Enukashvili (אנוקשווילי), and Tavdidishvili (תָבְדידישווילי) from Kutaisi, Georgia.
Maternal side: Benezra, Behar (Bahar), Adato families from Kırklareli and Edirne provinces of Turkey.
The database has information over six generations encompassing over 700 people, including many individuals who have married into these families. If you have relevant information about these families please contact me.
The software that I use is Genbox Family History. This is an outstanding program that uses MS Access database structure. It is both advanced and user-friendly.