Lispector, Clarice

The Brazilian author Clarice Lispector was born in the Jewish village of Chechelnyk in southern Ukraine. Her family consisted of her mother Pinkhas, her father Mania and two elder sisters, Leah and Tania. Because of the anti-Semitic atmosphere, for fear of persecution after the Bolsheviks came to power and because they had been affected by the pogroms during the revolution, they decided to leave the country. The family emigrated to Romania in 1922, but they eventually ended up with Clarice's mother's relatives in Brazil. The whole family changed their first names except Tania. Chaya became Clarice.