We present and discuss near-ultraviolet and optical groundbasedspectra of the 20 brightest Seyfert 2 nuclei, and HST ultravioletimages and ultraviolet spectroscopy for a few of them. The goal is tostudy the starburst-AGN connection and the origin of the featurelesscontinuum. The results indicate that half of the nuclei in the sampleharbor a young and/or intermediate age population. These stars areformed in powerful and dusty starbursts of short duration, that havebolometric luminosities similar to the estimated bolometric luminositiesof their obscured Seyfert 1 nuclei.