Grace Aguilar (1816-1847) was born in England to descendants of Crypto-Jews from Portugal.
By the time of her death at 31 she published poems, stories and articles in the Jewish and non-Jewish press, the pioneering History of the Jews of England, and the theological studies The Spirit of Judaism, The Jewish Faith, and The Women of Israel. Her novels "Home Influences", "A Mother’s Recompense" and "The Vale of Cedars" were published posthumously.
"In the first half of the nineteenth century, hers was the female voice which rose the highest, demanding Jewish mothers to perpetuate knowledge of Hebrew, defend a return to reading sacred texts and dissuade Jews from converting" (Universal Dictionary of Authors).
Michal Fram Cohen received her Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University in 2017. Her dissertation "The First Hebrew Woman Writer" was published by Resling in 2022. Michal has published essays in academic and non-academic journals and a book chapter in the anthology Women's Emancipation Writing at the Fin de Siècle (2019). She has given lectures in Israel and the U.S. on early Hebrew women writers, on Grace Aguilar, and on the Czech-Israeli actress Nava Shean.
Michal taught Hebrew at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University. Since 2018 works with The Open University of Israel.
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