Azorien juutalainen hisoria

Events - 2012

"A Brief History of the Jews in the Azores: from the 15th Century to the Present”
(in Portuguese)

Lecture by Prof. Fátima Sequeira Dias of University of the Azores

March 28, at 12:00 p.m in LARTS, Room 212 (Center's Conference Room), Parking Lot 1, UMass Dartmouth

Event free and open to the public

Prof. Fátima Sequeira Dias of
University of the Azores

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture announces a lecture, “A Brief History of the Jews in the Azores: from the 15th Century to the Present,” by Prof. Fátima Sequeira Dias of University of the Azores. The lecture - free and open to the public - will take place on Wednesday, March 28, at 12:00 p.m. in LARTS, Room 212 (Center’s Conference Room), Parking Lot 1.
In 2004, a genetics study concluded that 13.4% of the Y chromosome of Azoreans is of Jewish origin, a fact that suggests the importance of the Jewish presence in the Azores over many centuries. There are three major instances of the Jewish presence in the Azores - the first dates back to the original settlement of the Azores in the 15th century; the second takes place in the first quarter of the 19th century and the third coincides with the period of the Nazi nightmare in Europe. Commerce was the main economic activity of the Azorean Jewish community, but the islands became too small for their business objectives. The only family to remain on the islands was the Bensaúdes, who have undertaken the most successful investments in the Azores to this day.
Fátima Sequeira Dias is a professor in the Department of Management and Economics at the University of the Azores. She is the author of several books on the history of the Azores, including Os Açores na História de Portugal.
For further information, please contact Melissa Costa at 508-999-8255 or e-mail melissa.costa@umassd.edu.