of the Soul). According to Bonifacio's account, two years before that, Sarra had caused him to realize that she did not believe in the immortality of the soul. This was a very serious accusation of a crime of belief which could have resulted in a trial by inquisition. In response, Sarra wrote a work entitled, Manifesto di Sarra Copia Sulam hebrea Nel quale è da lei riprovate, e detestata l’opinione negante l’Immortalità dell’Anima, falsemente attribuitale da SIG. BALDASSARE BONIFACIO, translation: The Manifesto of Sarra Copia Sulam, a Jewish woman, in which she refutes and disavows the opinion denying immortality of the soul, falsely attributed to her by Signor Baldassare Bonifacio. The Manifesto was dedicated to her beloved father, who died when she was 16 years old. In this work she defended her points of view, and attacked Bonifacio. At the beginning of her response to Bonifacio's accusation was the following poem: Sarra sent a copy of the Manifesto to Cebà, but he responded to her only after a few months delay, and instead of offering her help, he once again urged her to convert to Christianity. This was the last letter that Cebà, who died soon after, wrote to Sarra. Many of her friends and teachers stopped supporting her during her time of need. Not until 1625 did an anonymous author publish papers in her defense. Sarra died in February 1641, after a three-month illness. References External links Project Continua: Biography of Sarra Copia Sullam Project Continua is a web-based multimedia resource dedicated to the creation and preservation of women’s intellectual history from the earliest surviving evidence into the 21st Century. 1592 births 1641 deaths Italian salon-holders 16th-century Venetian people 17th-century Venetian people 17th-century Italian women writers 17th-century Italian poets Sonneteers Italian women poets Jewish poets Republic of Venice poets Venetian Jews 17th-century Jews 16th-century Venetian women 17th-century Venetian women Republic of Venice women writers 17th-century Venetian writers Jewish women writers