María Rosa Menocal

Born in Havana, Cuba on April 9, 1953 — died October 15, 2012 (aged 59)

María Rosa Menocal was a Cuban-born scholar of medieval culture and history and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2002 Menocal wrote the book The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain, which has been translated into many languages. Menocal died of melanoma in 2012.