Anat Falbel received her Ph.D. in Architectural History from the University of Sao Paulo dealing with the issue of émigré architects between the 1940s and the 1960s in the city of São Paulo. A Canadian Center of Architecture Visiting scholar, she curated the exhibitions “Exile and Modernity: The space of the foreigner in the city of Sao Paulo” (2011) and & “Vagabond Stars: Memories of the Jewish Theater in Brazil” (2013). Among her many publications dedicated to cultural transferences in the field of architecture and visual culture, she also translated and edited books in Brazil by authors such as Bruno Zevi and Joseph Rykwert.
Mayana Zatz is one of the pioneers of human and medical genetics in Brazil. In 1981 she founded the Brazilian Muscular Dystrophy Association, to help the poorest population of patients. She has worked on the Zika congenital syndrome and on cancer and was very involved with the Brazilian Congress’s approval of a bill allowing human embryonic stem cell research.
Fayga Ostrower, born in Poland, began her artistic career after her family immigrated to Brazil, where she quickly developed a love and a talent for engraving. Her award-winning works have been displayed across the world, and she wrote many books reflecting on the power of art as a universal human language.
Rosa Kliass is a trailblazer in the field of Brazilian landscape architecture. After graduating from university, Kliass established the first landscape office run by a woman in Brazil. Kliass’ extensive experience in public works, combined with a broad interdisciplinary approach, led her to serve as a consultant to several governmental institutions.
After surviving the Holocaust and immigrating from Budapest to Brazil, dancer Marika Gidali became an influential performer, teacher, and choreographer at a time when the arts faced serious repression under military dictatorship. In 1956 Gidali began dancing with the Ballet Company of Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. Gidali later set up her first school, which was the meeting point for many artists in the mid-1960s.
Brazil is home to the second largest Jewish community in South America. Jewish women played important roles in the absorption of Jewish immigrants from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and also made important contributions to Brazilian intellectual and artistic life.
Raised in Brazil, world-renowned pianist Yara Bernette began studying piano with her uncle, a major Brazilian classical musician of his day. She toured across the world and became the head of the piano program at the Hamburg Music and Performing Arts School.
