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Discovering Louisa May Alcott’s Jewish history on Portuguese tour

JL;DR SUMMARY Louisa May Alcott, renowned for her iconic novel "Little Women," has roots tracing back to Sephardic Jewish ancestry. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

InquisitionJewish HistoryJewish ImmigrantsSephardic JewsAssimilationPortugalCrypto JewsLouisa May AlcottLittle WomenAbigail May Alcott

Places mentioned

Lisbon, Portugal
"The first person we encountered in Lisbon, the cabdriver who picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, offered us an impromptu history lesson on Portugals Jews."
Coimbra, Portugal
"We took a fast train to Coimbra, a hill town on the Mondego River in central Portugal, to see another region of importance."
Cabanas de Viriato, Viseu, Portugal
"His ancestral mansion, Caso do Passal, in Portugals northern town of Cabanas de Viriato, is being renovated as a memorial museum."
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
"Her mother, Abigail May Alcott, who had similar coloring, had learned this from her father, Joseph May, a late 18th-century Boston businessman whose Portuguese Jewish ancestors immigrated to Sussex, England, just before 1500."
Evora, Lisbon, Portugal
"Inquisitorial tribunals exist- ed in Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto and vora."
Porto, Lisbon, Portugal
"Inquisitorial tribunals exist- ed in Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto and vora."
Viseu, Lisbon, Portugal
"The church was a gift for his sister, Leonor of Viseu, founder of the Order of Mercy."
Sussex, England, United Kingdom
"Her mother, Abigail May Alcott, who had similar coloring, had learned this from her father, Joseph May, a late 18th-century Boston businessman whose Portuguese Jewish ancestors immigrated to Sussex, England, just before 1500."

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Retrieved 2025-12-06 05:31:12 UTC
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