[1] Little is known about her early life, however in 1877, the Jewish community in Tripoli invited an additional teacher from Livorno to emigrate in order to run a school for girls there.
[2][3] The previous year, in 1876, the first teacher, Giannetto Paggi, had emigrated and it was he who founded the Italian Boys' School there.
From 1895 the curriculum included French, soon after English, History and Geography were adopted.
[1][6] In addition to her work as Director of the school, Vais was a board member of the Women's Benevolent Society, 'Ezrat Nashim, which was founded in 1895 by a group of Italian women in order to enable medical care for people affected by an outbreak of plague.
[1] Vais died in 1932, whilst still Director of the Italian Girls' School.