Reports on recent events in Lisbon and Porto

The Society has had several events in the last few months. These have included a talk in Cascais by David Sampson on Menasseh ben Israel and his petition to Cromwell in 1655 and a presentation in Porto by Jeannine Johnson Maia on Turning History into Fiction.

Cascais

42 members and guests gathered at the Avner Cohen Casa Chabad Jewish Community Centre in Cascais and were rewarded with an excellent talk by BHSP member, David Sampson, on Menasseh ben Israel and his petition to Cromwell in 1655. David’s talk prompted many insightful questions. Participants were also able to view the centre’s library, which contains numerous books and documents connected with Jews in Portugal. Some of these are 500 years old.

For a complete report of David's presentation, please see here.

Porto

On Thursday 4th May 2023, to an audience of 34 people at the Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, Jeannine gave a most interesting talk, titled “Turning History into Fiction”. She was then able to autograph some copies of her books. Jeannine made us aware of the vast amount of research that goes into the eventual writing of a novel. 

For a full report of Jeannine's talk, please see here.