Gracia Mendes Nasi

Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510 – 1569), also known as Doña Gracia or La Señora "The Lady", was a Portuguese Sephardic Jewish philanthropist, businesswoman, and one of the wealthiest women of Renaissance Europe. She married Francisco Mendes, whose Hebrew name was Tsemach Benveniste (Hebrew: צֶמַח בֶּנְוֵנִיסְטֵי‎). She was the maternal aunt and business partner of Joseph Nasi, simultaneously known by his alias João Micas, who became a prominent figure in the politics of the Ottoman Empire. She also developed an escape network that saved hundreds of conversos from the Inquisition. Like other New Christians, she had a Christianized name, Beatriz (Beatrice) de Luna Miques. Nasi herself was a Crypto-Jew, not a believing Christian.