The Sephardic Figures Directory exists to show the world what Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews have given to Jewish life and to humanity, from the poets of al-Andalus to the Nobel laureates of our own day. A directory like this is only worth something if readers can trust it. This page explains who we include, what evidence we ask for, and how we label anything that is less than certain.
A person belongs in the directory when two things are true. First, they made a contribution that matters: to Torah and Jewish leadership, or to science, letters, public life, the arts, business or sport. Second, they have a documented connection to the Sephardic world. We use “Sephardic” in its broad, traditional sense: the Jews of Iberian descent, and the Jewish communities of North Africa, the Middle East and beyond who pray in the Sephardi rite and follow the rulings of Maran, Rabbi Yosef Karo.
We do not include someone because they are famous and happen to have a Spanish-sounding surname, or because a list somewhere online claims them. Every person needs a source.
Not every connection is the same, so every profile states which kind applies. You will see it on each card and at the top of each profile.
Each profile also carries a confidence level.
We rely on scholarly reference works such as the Encyclopaedia Judaica, academic biographies and studies, community and synagogue records, and the person’s own statements in interviews or memoirs. For the great rabbis, we also rely on the traditional sources and the works of their students.
We do not accept a surname on its own as evidence, since many Sephardic surnames are also common among non-Jews and among Ashkenazim. We also do not rely on genealogy websites, social media posts or unsourced lists of “famous Sephardic Jews.” Where we draw on Wikipedia or Wikidata to find a person, we follow their citations back to the original sources.
The directory records heritage and contribution. It does not judge anyone’s religious observance. Some people listed here left Jewish practice, were baptized as children, or were placed in herem by their communities, as Baruch Spinoza was. Where that is part of the story, we say so factually and without comment. Benjamin Disraeli, for example, was baptized at twelve and remained openly proud of his Jewish descent; both facts appear on his profile.
Rabbis and sages are listed separately on the Great Sephardic Rabbis page and are named the way the Sephardic world knows them: Maran, the Rambam, the Ben Ish Hai.
For figures known worldwide, we use the name most people search for, such as Maimonides or Spinoza, and list other names on the profile. For rabbis, we use the Sephardic form of the name with its traditional acronym. Uncertain dates are marked with “c.” for circa, or shown as a range. Where the date of a sage’s passing is known, we give the hilula according to the Hebrew calendar.
We include living people when their Sephardic or Mizrahi connection is documented and public. Their roles are dated, for example “as of November 2026,” because positions change. We do not speculate about anyone’s private life or beliefs. If you are listed and believe something is wrong, please contact us and we will review it promptly.
We use only images we have the right to use: public-domain works, images released under a free license with the credit the license requires, and images from Sephardic U’s own collection. Portraits of medieval and early modern sages are almost always imagined by later artists, and we label them “later portrait” so they are not mistaken for likenesses.
We would rather be corrected than wrong. If you have evidence that a profile is mistaken, or know of someone who belongs here, please write to us through our contact page and include your source. Every profile shows the date it was last reviewed, and we update it when the evidence changes.
