Female Voices from the Jewish Renaissance – Tuesday, July 25, 2019

MEIS BOOKSHOP (5.00 pm, free entrance)

Four women, all of Sephardic heritage, will be united for the first time.

The sole  purpose of this ingathering is to give a new life and a new voice to Jewish women of the Renaissance.

Our guests will bring to the MEIS old traditions, new ideas, philosophy, science and music.

Nicole, Daniela and Michela are three descendants of the glorious Abravanel dynasty. The Abravanel was one of the most important and powerful Jewish family during the Renaissance. They travelled around the world and were highly respected. They knew glory and honors, but also suffered misfortune and humiliations.

The director of MEIS, Simonetta Della Seta, will introduce the Parisian scholar Nicole Abravanel (simultaneous translation by Giulio Stabellini), who will speak about the arrival of the Sephardic culture in the city of Ferrara due to the expulsion of the Jews from the Spanish territories. The cabalist and writer Daniela Abravanel, who comes from Mexico, will share the story of her famous ancestor, Benvenida Abravanel. Benvenida was the teacher and friend of the Duchess of Tuscany, Eleonora – Cosimo I de Medici’s wife. The neurolinguistic expert, Michela Ebreo, a descendant of Leone Ebreo (born Yehudah Abravanel, whose famous work “Dialogues of Love” is exhibited at the MEIS), will reveal the scientific legacy of the Renaissancefemale Sephardic world.

The afternoon will conclude with a concert (starting at 7.00 pm) by the singer and actress Evelina Meghnagi, devoted to Sephardic music and to the amazing Dona Gracia Nasi, one of the most fascinating woman of Renaissance.  It will be a journey through time and space.

SPECIAL OPENING AND GUIDED TOUR

Thanks to the event “Female Voices from the Jewish Renaissance” on Tuesday, July 25,2019, the MEIS will be open until 10:00 PM. There will be a guided tour focused on the history of Jewish women during the Renaissance: a history about challenges, emancipation and ingenuity.

The guided tour will  begin at 9:00 PM (meeting at the ticket office at 8:45 PM).  The cost of the guided tour is an additional 5.00 euros per person, free for children up to 6 years old (ticket price excluded).

Photo credit: Marco Caselli Nirmal