Emma Lazarus

Born in New York City in 1849, Emma Lazarus came from a prosperous Sephardic Jewish family and began writing poetry at a young age. She published early, studied European literature deeply, and also translated works by authors including Heinrich Heine.

Lazarus is most widely remembered for "The New Colossus," written in 1883 for a fund-raising effort connected with the Statue of Liberty. Its welcoming vision of America grew even more famous later, when the poem was placed at the statue and became one of the country's best-known pieces of verse.

She also used her writing to speak out on behalf of Jewish immigrants and refugees, especially Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe. Emma Lazarus died in 1887 at just 38, but her poetry and public voice left a lasting mark on American culture.