MATILDA COHEN-SARANO  מתילדה כהן -סראנו

Matilda was born in Milan, Italy, in 1939, to a Sephardic family from Turkey. Her grandfather, Moshe, was born in Bergama (Pergamon), Turkey, in 1874. Both her father, Alfredo, and her mother, Diana Hadjes, were born in Aydin, Turkey. Her father moved to Rhodes and lived there till 1925, and her mother moved to Izmir (Turkey) and lived there till 1937. They eventually married in Milan in 1938. During the Second World War the family was hidden on the Italian mountains, escaping the Nazi persecutions. Her father became the Secretary of the Jewish Community in Milan from 1945 until 1969.  

In 1960, Matilda  married Aharon Cohen, who was the Director General of  The National Authority for Ladino and its Culture jubilated (death 2011), and moved to Israel. She has lived in Jerusalem since 1962. She lives now in Petah Tikva. She is the mother of three children, grand-mother of fourteen and grand-grand-mother of one. Today she is widow.    

Matilda completed her studies in the Jewish Community’s School, and later studied at the Bocconi University in Milan. In 1979 she participated in a Seminar for Radio Programming in Judeo-Spanish at Kol Israel (The Israeli Radio) in Jerusalem. She received her B.A. in Italian Literature, Judeo-Spanish and Folklore in 1987 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For had been working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem (1974-1997) for twenty-three years and is now retired from this position.

The main goal of Matilda’s activities and labors has been the conservation and revitalization of the Judeo-Spanish (or Ladino) language, culture and heritage. As a survivor of the Holocaust and the attempts to annihilate Jewish culture, she considers this the mission of her life.