Matilda Koen-Sarano was born in Milan (Italy) in 1939 to a Sephardic family from Turkey. Her grand-father, Moshe, was born in Bergama (Turkey) in 1874. Her father Alfredo, and her mother Diana Hadjes, were both born in Aydin (Turkey). Her father lived in Rhodes till 1925, and her mother in Izmir (Turkey) till 1938.
The essential activity of Matilda Koen-Sarano is found in the field of the conservation and the preservation of the Judeo-Spanish language, culture, and folklore; this she feels is he mission of her life, because she escaped from the holocaust, and is a survivor.
