Penina Moise

Penina Moise (1797-1880) was born in Charleston and was the first woman to write and publish a Jewish hymnal.

She was a prolific writer throughout her adult life, having published her first poem in a Charleston newspaper in 1819. She continued writing stories, essays and poems in newspapers and magazines until she died. During the 1830s and 1840s, Moise wrote more than 190 hymns that were collectively published in the first Jewish hymnal in America.

In 1833 she won national recognition when she published a collection of her poems, “Fancy’s Sketch Book.” This publication was unconventional because she published it under her own name and addressed important contemporary political issues such as Jewish rights, Southern secession, and states’ rights.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions as a writer she was posthumously inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors.