Rafaela Ferraz is a writer and researcher focused on strange, slightly macabre, and often overlooked chapters of Portuguese history. Her work has appeared in Atlas Obscura, Catapult, The Order of the Good Death, and TalkDeath, among others.
She graduated from the University of Porto with a bachelor’s degree in Criminology and, later, a master’s in Forensic Sciences. Her thesis adopted a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the Portuguese way of death, outlining its past, present, and future as new funeral technologies begin to creep into the public consciousness.
Outside of academia, Rafaela continues to work in the intersection of history and death. She’s written about a 680-year-old saint who refuses to decompose, explored the European penchant for grave recycling, and examined the ethical implications of preserving criminals for science.
