Grace Aguilar

Grace Aguilar was a prolific Jewish writer of history, poetry, and fiction. She was the daughter of Sephardic Jews from Portugal who moved to London to escape the Inquisition. She was born June 2, 1816 in London. In early childhood she contracted an illness that left her frail and vulnerable to a number of illnesses throughout her life. Her mother taught her religion and her father read and instructed her in Jewish history. She also was interested in science and nature. She started writing stories and poetry as a child and continued writing throughout her life. Since the Jewish scriptures had not been translated into English, she would go to Protestant churches to hear the sermon and scriptures in English. Because of illness, she went to Frankfurt, Germany where her brother was studying. She died there on September 16, 1847 at the age of 31.

Dianne Shapiro (from Galchinsky, Michael. "Grace Aguilar." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on July 26, 2015) .)