About Doña Gracia Award
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This prize is awarded by the Fundación HispanoJudia to people or entities for outstanding achievements that represent, defend, and promote the universal values of Judaism. These values, including tzedakah, equality, hard work, and tikun olam, are the founding values of the FHJ and the basis for all of its educational and cultural programs.
Who was Doña Gracia Nasi?
Doña Gracia was one of the most influential, philanthropic and brave Jewish women of all time. She was born into a secret Jewish family in Portugal in 1510 and given the royal-sounding name of Beatrice de Luna as her legal name – and Gracia Nasi as her secret Jewish name. After the Portuguese Inquisition was established in 1536, she was forced to flee Lisbon. After navigating dangerous political waters, the family eventually settled in Venice, where they continued to practice crypto-Judaism while maintaining a Catholic façade. After the Venetian court involved itself in a familial inheritance dispute, Gracia Nasi moved her family and property to Ferrara, where they lived openly as Jews for the first time. She was an active supporter of literary activities among Ferrara Jews – she was also instrumental in financing and organizing transportation and resettlement for conversos fleeing Portugal. In 1552, the family moved to Constantinople. Gracia Nasi assumed a role of leadership in the Sephardic world of the Ottoman Empire, providing relief to needy Jews, supporting rabbinic scholars, and establishing synagogues.
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Image: Agnolo Bronzino - Young woman and her little boy. c.1540. National Gallery of Art
