Dr. Meyer pioneered the research of the Baghdadi Jewish community of Shanghai, having appreciated over 30 years ago the unique mix represented by its various components. Over this period, she has forged relationships with many of the families and individuals who paid a large part in this burgeoning community. Her ground-breaking book ‘From the Rivers of Babylon to the Whangpoo: A Century of Sephardi Jewish Life in Shanghai’ (Lanham M.D.2003) is widely considered as the definitive history of the Baghdadi Jewish merchants who settled in Shanghai in the mid-19th century. Her determination to preserve the memory of this community and the unrivalled access that she has enjoyed to both the key characters and previously unseen source material has resulted in her recent publication ‘Shanghai’s Baghdadi Jews: A Collection of Biographical Reflections’.

Dr. Meyer is a double graduate in English and Humanities, both with honours, and obtained an MA degree in International History at the London School of Economics. The British Academy awarded her a scholarship to do a PhD. The subject she chose to research reflects her personal autobiography. It gives her a deeper understanding of Shanghai’s Baghdadi Jews, their emulation of a British lifestyle and their desire to appear as British as possible within the parameters of their faith.

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