Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Research Project

Cape Verdeans are predominantly Catholic because of over 500 years of Portuguese colonial rule. After Portugal abolished the Inquisition in 1821, and after Portugal and Great Britain signed a trade and navigation treaty in 1842, some Sephardic Jews from Morocco chose to immigrate to Cape Verde to escape deteriorating economic conditions and pursue opportunities.

The majority of these Jews were men, some of whom ended up playing important roles in Cape Verde’s economy and administration, and ended up marrying local Catholic women and assimilating into Cape Verdean culture. Hebrew and Portuguese inscriptions on the tombstones in the small Jewish cemeteries throughout the islands indicate that the majority came from the Moroccan cities of Tangier, Tetouan, Rabat, and Mogador (now Essaouira).