In 1621, one of Sara’s salon guests accused her (via pamphlet) of denying the immortality of the soul, an accusation that could lead to charges of heresy. They exchanged letters and poems for several years, although the Ceba would often try to urge her to convert to Christianity, which Sara would rebuff. Sara Copia Sullam corresponded often with an author turned monk named Ansaldo Ceba, who wrote a verse epic about the life of Esther. She was said to have died on February 1641, at the age of 49. She was married to Jacob Sullam, but there was no record of any surviving children between them. Although she was born a century before the prominence of Jewish women in salons (such as the ones in Berlin in the 18th Century), she became a host of a salon in Venice, where various poets, artists and intellectuals would gather and discuss their ideas. She grew up with an education based on both Jewish and Italian culture, a keen understanding of Hebrew and secular literature, and was fluent in various languages such as Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Italian.

Sarah Copia was born in 1592, in the city of Venice, Italy to affluent parents.

One of the earliest Jewish salon hosts was Sarah Copia Sullam, a poet who lived in Venice. While “salon” nowadays denotes a place where people get their hair done, a “salon” in European history denotes a gathering of intellectuals, hosted by a woman of high standing. For example, the word “salon” has very different connotations today than it did hundreds of years ago.

One thing that we enjoyed about our previous Jewish cruises was the chance to explore the origins and sources of various historical words, concepts and ideas, especially when they’re related to Jewish heritage.

Sara copio sullam