Margalit Matitiahu (Hebrew: מרגלית מתתיהו, born 1935, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) is a poet in

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * The register of Judaeo-Spanish used in the translation of religious texts, such as the Ferrara Bible *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especi ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

from

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. After

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, her parents moved to

from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

where they were

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

who were descendants of Jews from León. She studied

Hebrew Literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was pro ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. She started writing in

and in 1988 she published ''Curtijo Quemado'' (later in ''Vela de luz'') in

, which is a testimony of Nazi destruction. She has worked as a presenter in radio and investigated her mother tongue. She is a member of the World Academy of Art and Culture (having received a doctorate ''Honoris Causa''), of the Israel

PEN club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...

and of the

Hebrew Writers Association in Israel The Hebrew Writers Association in Israel ( he, אגודת הסופרים העברים במדינת ישראל, previously אגודת הסופרים העבריים בארץ ישראל or אגודת הסופרים העבריים) is a professional as ...

. She has been awarded several prizes: * the 1994 "Fernando Jeno Award" the international prize for Jewish literature giving by the Jewish community of Mexico. * the 1996 "Ateneo de Jaen Award", the international literature prize for poetry in Jaen, Andalucia, Spain. * the 1999 Israeli Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Writers * the 2003 "Poetry Award" the international prize for poetry given by the "Orient-Occident" Academy of Curtea de Arges, Romania Giusepina Gerometa from

University of Udine The University of Udine (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Udine'') is a university in the city of Udine, Italy. It was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976. Its aim was to provide the Friul ...

wrote her PhD thesis on ''The poetry of Margalit Matitiahu'' in 2001–2002. This was the first thesis on contemporary modern Sephardic poetry. The second thesis (on translation) was written by Sonja Bertok from

University of Trieste The University of Trieste ( it, Università degli Studi di Trieste, or UniTS) is a public research university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. The university consists of 10 departments, boasts a wide and almos ...

in 2003–2004.

Documentary films 2004–2008

*Production of documentary films: The series of "Sefarad Ways and life" *Work with her son Jack Matitiahu – director and photographer of the series. The two films of the series were presented in Israel, Spain, Toronto, Canada, London. The films are: *"Leon reencounter" *"Toledo the hidden secret"

Sample verse

Her works

In Hebrew

*''Through the Glass Window'' (1976) *''No Summer Silence'' (1979) *''White Letters'' (1983) *''Handcuffed'' (1987) *''Midnight Stairs'' (1995) *''To wake the silence'' (2005)

In Ladino

*''Alegrica'' (1993) *''Matriz de luz'' & ''Vela de la luz'' (1997) *''Kamino de Tormento'' (2000) *''Vagabondo Eternel'' & ''Bozes en la Shara'' (2001) *''Canton de solombra'' (2005) *''Asiguiendo al esfuenio'' (2006)

External links

Primary Music
Margalit's Record Label featuring her musical work 'Aromas Y Memorias' {{DEFAULTSORT:Matitiahu, Margalit 1935 births Living people Jews from Thessaloniki Israeli Sephardi Jews Judaeo-Spanish-language poets Israeli people of Greek-Jewish descent Israeli poets