BENARUS, ADOLFO

BENARUS, ADOLFO (1863–1958), Portuguese writer. His grandfather David Bensabat, born in Morocco, was the first Jew to settle (1815) in the Azores Islands. Benarus was born there, at Angra do Heroísmo. He was a painter and philologist and taught English in the faculty of letters of the University of Lisbon and in other educational institutions. He was active in communal life and was honorary president of the Jewish community of Lisbon. He wrote Israel (1924); Os Judeus, Historia Estranha deste Povo ("The Jews, the Strange Story of This People," 1927); A Tragédia da Historia ("The Tragedy of History," 1937); Anti-semitismo (1948) as well as pamphlets on Jewish festivals. (Moses Bensabat Amzalak)