Shakespeare Was A ‘Black Jewish Woman,’ Feminist Historian Claims In New Book

A feminist historian argues William Shakespeare did not write his famous plays and sonnets. The real author was a black Jewish woman, she claims.

Irene Coslet makes the assertion in her new book “The Real Shakespeare: Emilia Bassano Willoughby,” published by Pen and Sword Books, according to The Telegraph. Coslet identifies Emilia Bassano as the actual writer of Shakespeare’s works. Bassano was a poet who moved in royal circles during the Tudor period. The man from Stratford-upon-Avon was an “uneducated interloper” who stole her work, Coslet argues.

“If Shakespeare was a female of colour, this would draw attention to issues of peace and justice in society,” Coslet told The Telegraph. “What if women had a pivotal role and a civilising impact in history, but they have been silenced, belittled and erased from the dominant narrative?” (RELATED: ROOKE: Author Of Feminist Book Turned Into Hit Six-Season TV Show Claims She Suffers From ‘Book Bans’)

Coslet describes Shakespeare as a “semi-illiterate moneylender” who could not have achieved such literary brilliance, The Daily Mail reported. She identifies Bassano as Jewish and Moorish with family ties to Venice.

🎭 William Shakespeare was a “black Jewish woman” who used used the Bard’s name as a pen-name, according to a new book.

Read the full report from @Craig_Simpson_ here ⤵️https://t.co/pyLi27hP07 pic.twitter.com/TLrIvHo6fz

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 24, 2026

Bassano served as mistress to Henry Carey, Elizabeth I’s Lord Chamberlain and patron of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men theatre troupe. The book suggests portraitists deliberately lightened Bassano’s skin to match Elizabethan beauty standards.

Coslet admits she lacks specific details on how Shakespeare allegedly plagiarized Bassano’s work, The College Fix reported. The author concedes it is only “reasonable to assume” he exploited the situation.

Shakespeare scholars reject the theory. Kate McLuskie, director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, called the evidence “entirely circumstantial” with “no documentary foundation,” according to The College Fix. She described it as “a beautiful story that is not less beautiful for being entirely false.”

The Bassano theory is not new. Scholar John Hudson first proposed it in 2008. Novelist Jodi Picoult made similar claims in her 2024 book “By Any Other Name.”

No one questioned Shakespeare’s authorship during his lifetime. His rival Ben Jonson praised him as a genius “for all time.”