The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Features thousands of biographic and thematic essays on Jewish women around the world. Learn more

Donna Guy

Donna J. Guy is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Humanities in the Department of History at Ohio State University. She is a specialist in the history of Argentina and Latin American Women’s history. Her publications include Sex and Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family and Nation in Argentina and Women Build the Nation State: Performing Charity and Creating Rights in Argentina 1880-1955.

Articles by this author

Argentina: Jewish White Slavery

Between 1875 and 1936, Buenos Aires was a major prostitution hub. Immigrant Jewish women were desperate enough to seek work in legally sanctioned brothels run by Jewish pimps. Although Jewish women compromised just a third of legal prostitutes in Buenos Aires in 1910, they were disproportionately visible in Argentina’s Catholic society.

Argentina: Philanthropic Organizations

Three Jewish women’s philanthropic organizations emerged on the scene in early 20th-century Argentina to support orphans and poor children in the community. The Society of Israelite Beneficent Women was responsible for the Jewish Girls’ Orphanage that opened in 1919. The Yiddish-speaking Women’s Aid Association formed the Jewish Infants’ Home to help new mothers and ran a Kindergarten. The Women’s Commission helped run the Jewish Boys’ Orphanage.

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Donna Guy." (Viewed on May 29, 2023) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/guy-donna>.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now