Women Who Shaped Sephardic History

Bankers and rescuers, poets and scholars, artists and leaders, from Doña Gracia to today.

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All 192 Rabbis & Sages Nobel Laureates Women

Women Who Shaped Sephardic History

24 figures

Abigail Levy Franks

Abigail Levy FranksLetter writer, household manager, and merchant-family matriarch1696–1756 · North AmericaSephardic-rite congregation

Alona TalActress and singerb. 1983 · IsraelSephardi Asenath BarzaniHead of a yeshiva1590–1670 · IraqMizrahi

Caryl Brahms

Caryl BrahmsNovelist, critic and journalist1901–1982 · Western Sephardi (Amsterdam, London & the Americas)One Sephardic or Mizrahi parent

Doña Gracia Nasi

Doña Gracia NasiMerchant, banker, philanthropist, and communal patron1510–1569 · PortugalConverso descent

Emma Lazarus

Emma LazarusPoet, essayist, translator, and refugee advocate1849–1887 · North AmericaSephardi

Emmanuelle Chriqui

Emmanuelle ChriquiActressb. 1975 · MoroccoSephardi

Eva GreenActressb. 1980 · Algeria & TunisiaSephardic ancestry

Eydie Gormé

Eydie GorméSinger1928–2013 · Ottoman EmpireSephardi FortunaSinger and researcher of Sephardic musicb. 1958 · Caribbean & Latin AmericaSephardi

Géraldine Nakache

Géraldine NakacheActress and directorb. 1980 · Algeria & TunisiaSephardi

Gisèle HalimiLawyer, feminist organizer, author, legislator, and human-rights advocate1927–2020 · Algeria & TunisiaSephardi

Grace Aguilar

Grace AguilarNovelist, historian, poet, educator, and religious writer1816–1847 · Western Sephardi (Amsterdam, London & the Americas)Sephardi

June BrownActress1927–2022 · Algeria & TunisiaSephardic ancestry

Laura Papo Bohoreta

Laura Papo BohoretaPlaywright, essayist, folklorist, translator, and women's advocate1891–1942 · BalkansSephardi

Miri Bohadana

Miri BohadanaActress and modelb. 1977 · MoroccoSephardi

Miri RegevIsraeli politicianb. 1965 · MoroccoSephardi

Moran AtiasActress and modelb. 1981 · MoroccoSephardi

Orly Levy-Abekasis

Orly Levy-AbekasisIsraeli politicianb. 1973 · MoroccoSephardi

Rachel Morpurgo

Rachel MorpurgoHebrew poet, Hebraist, and letter writer1790–1871 · ItalyItalian Jewish

Rita Levi-Montalcini

Rita Levi-MontalciniNeurologist; Nobel Prize in Medicine 19861909–2012 · ItalyItalian Jewish

Sarra Copia Sullam

Sarra Copia SullamPoet, salon host, polemicist, musician, and intellectualc. 1592–1641 · ItalyItalian Jewish

Shiri MaimonSingerb. 1981 · IsraelSephardi

Sonia Gardner

Sonia GardnerInvestorb. 1962 · MoroccoSephardi