## *SEPHARDIC WORLD, SUNDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2022*## *WITH MICHAEL WAAS*## *THE STORY OF SEPHARDIC SURNAMES: FRUIT TREES, CATHOLIC THEMES, AND ‘EXPERT LISTS’*Spain and Portugal's 2015 “Right of Return" citizenship laws for descendants of expelled Jews caused an explosion of interest in Sephardic genealogy. The laws addressed the descendants of those expelled from Spain in 1492 and/or forcibly baptized in Portugal in 1496/1497.Many people interested in the possibility of an EU passport started to ask if they were eligible or not, and began to think about their family histories. Along came a list that purported to be an authoritative register of all Sephardic surnames, claiming that anyone with a name on this list would be automatically eligible for Spanish citizenship.Another tale emerged that in order to ‘hide’, converted Jews had taken the names of fruit trees, plants, and Catholic themes.In this presentation, ***Michael Waas*** will discuss the story and history of Sephardic Surnames and separate fact from fiction.***Michael Waas***, M.A., is the co-founder of Hollander-Waas Jewish Heritage Services, a Jewish heritage, and genealogy research firm. He also volunteers his time as the anthropologist and historian of the Avotaynu Genetic Census of the Jewish People Project. He is an Admin of The Sephardic Diaspora group on Facebook.The meeting is on Sunday 27 February 2022, at 11am in LA, 2pm NYC, 7pm London, 8pm Paris/Amsterdam, and 9pm Jerusalem. Patrons can join us on Zoom. The link is shared at our Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/sephardiEveryone is invited to join us for free at: https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory/ Please subscribe to the YouTube channel. It helps us a lot and reminds you when we are going live!Over the last two years, Sephardic World has become the leading forum for learning about Sephardic history and genealogy. We have no commercial sponsorship or public funding. There is no charge to attend our meetings or to view our content. If you are not a patron and can afford it, please consider supporting our work: https://www.patreon.com/sephardi*Best wishes,**Ton and David**Sephardic World*