People / group

Sephardic Jews

Also known as Sephardim

Sephardic Jews are the Jewish communities descended from those of medieval Spain and Portugal, expelled in 1492 and 1497. Many settled in the Ottoman Empire, North Africa and the Netherlands, and from there in the Dutch and English Caribbean and Guianas. They brought sugar and trading expertise to colonies such as Suriname and Curaçao, where Mikvé Israel-Emanuel is the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas.

Sephardic Jews
Image: Alfred Dehodencq · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

Ottoman EmpireSocioeconomyFree and Hanseatic City of HamburgSocioeconomyDutch RepublicSocioeconomy

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Colony of CuraçaoWilloughbyland

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sephardic Jews. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sephardic-jews
MLA
“Sephardic Jews.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sephardic-jews. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sephardic Jews.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sephardic-jews.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sephardic Jews’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sephardic-jews (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻