Rafaela Ferraz is an author and independent researcher.

With a degree in Criminology and a Master’s in Forensic Medicine, she co-authored the book Death and Funeral Practices in Portugal (Routledge, 2022), a comprehensive work dedicated to funeral practice in Portugal.

She has written for Atlas Obscura, History Today, and Hyperallergic, among others; in Portugal, she has contributed to magazines Almanaque and Shifter.

She is interested in emerging funeral practices, the cemetery as a site of perpetuating inequality, and the display of human remains, whether in religious, cultural, or museological contexts.

She manages the Museu das Pagelas, a project dedicated to digitizing funeral cards (mainly Portuguese) dating from 1900 to 1985.