54 | APRIL 4 • 2024 

the colonial Dutch Indies. That part 
of the family presumably went further 
back to Spain and the Alhambra Decree 
of 1492 that forced any Jews living in 
Spain to convert to Catholicism or leave. 
His maternal great-grandmother, whose 
maiden name was Henriquez Cohen, 
hailed from Barranquilla in Columbia, 
and looking back even further, 
Manzanera discovered ancestors who 
had fled to Holland, including “great, 
great, great, great — I’ve lost track” 
uncle Moses Cohen Henriques (aka 
Benjamin Cohen). And he was shocked 
by his ancestor’s notoriety. 
“It’s a pirate!” Manzanera says with a 
laugh. “I’m looking through the (family 
tree) and I’m finding Henriques and 
Cohen Henriques and going further and 
further back, and I just thought off the 
top of my head ‘I’ll just Wikipedia,’ and 
he’s got his own page. I said, ‘I cannot 
believe this.’ and his story is just, like, 
hilarious.”
The Portuguese-born Cohen 
Henriques worked with the Dutch West 
India Company, which he helped to 
capture treasure from Spanish ships. He 
subsequently led a Jewish contingent, 
part of the Dutch invasion of Brazil 
during 1630, and helped to bring the 
first rabbi, synagogue and mikvah to 
what was called the New World.
After the Portuguese recaptured 
Brazil and began persecuting Jews, 
however, Cohen Henriques became a 
lieutenant for notorious pirate Captain 
Harry Morgan (as in the popular rum 

brand). Occupying his own island near 
the Brazilian coast, Cohen Henriques 
plundered Spanish and Portuguese ships 
and is credited with more than $1 billion 
in thefts, in today’s valuation, from his 
raids.
“This guy just rinsed Spain, like, 
the coffers,” says Manzanera, who’s 
accompanied the Revolucion To Roxy
book with an album of songs inspired by 
his family history. “He nicked so much 
gold bullion, it was amazing. They were 
after him for years but never caught 
him. Maybe that’s payback for expelling 
his people from Spain in 1492, you 
know?”
Cohen Henriques wound up 
in Jamaica after Morgan became 
governor there in 1681. He granted 
his trusted adviser a full pardon, and 

Cohen Henriques established a Jewish 
community on the island and remained 
there until his death. 
“I had a famous theatrical lawyer for 
years in London named John Cohen,” 
Manzanera says. “When I told him 
the story I said, ‘John, I think there’s a 
musical in this. Has there ever been a 
musical about a Jewish pirate? Come 
on!” The attorney suggested Manzanera 
visit Bevis Marks synagogue in London, 
which began the process of having his 
lineage accredited (“stamped,” as he calls 
it). Spain has rescinded the citizenship 
offer but Portugal’s is still active at the 
moment.
In the meantime, Manzanera is happy 
to be finding all these fresh things about 
his heritage and is even talking about a 
second volume of the memoir.
“This is all sort of new to me,” says 
Manzanera, who was born Phillip 
Targett-Adams in London but was 
raised in Cuba, Hawaii, Venezuela 
and Colombia (his father worked for 
the British Overseas Air Corporation 
(BOAC). “I’ve discovered lots of 
interesting facts about the history of 
the Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi 
Judaism, and one goes back further and 
further and further, and you get a better 
understanding of what’s happened over 
the last 2,000 years — or more. 
“See, the whole thing about history is 
just fascinating, and it churns up some 
fancy little anecdote that you never 
could have imagined would be part of 
your life. And that’s so enriching.” 

Phil 
Manzanera

CLAIRE SINGERS

continued from page 53

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