Ladino Academy Elects Top Officials
Two BIU professors will serve in senior positions at the new national academy
Two Bar-Ilan University professors have been elected to the two most senior positions at the Israel National Academy of Ladino. Prof. (Emeritus) Ora Schwarzwald was elected president of the academy and Prof. Shmuel Refael, Director of the University's Naime and Yehoshua Salti Institute for Ladino Studies was appointed scientific secretary.
The esteemed nominations were announced during a virtual event marking the academy's establishment, which was hosted earlier this month by the Embassy of Spain in Israel during the visit of Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha González Laya. Participants also included Minister of Culture Hili Tropper, the President of the Royal Spanish Academy in Madrid Santiago Muñoz Machado, directors of the Cervantes Institute in Israel and around the world, and more.
"I have no doubt that under Prof. Refael's leadership the Salti Institute has become the leading institute of Ladino language and culture in Israel. The selection of Prof. Schwarzwald and Prof. Refael for the most senior positions in the Israel National Academy of Ladino is without a shadow of a doubt an expression of the great recognition and appreciation of them and the Salti Institute," said Prof. Yaron Harel, Dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies.
Ladino is a language still spoken by the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain 525 years ago. In 2018 a unanimous, historic decision to establish an Israeli national academy was taken at an international conference for the Judeo-Spanish language in Madrid. The significance of this decision is that the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) recognizes Ladino as a unique cultural treasure preserved outside of Spain, as well as its specific contribution as a language naturally belonging to the global Spanish linguistic map.
Prof. Shmuel Refael, of the Berman Department of Literature of the Jewish People and an international authority on Ladino, has been one of the outspoken advocates of this initiative. Prof. Refael was among those who drafted a declaration submitted to the President of the Royal Academy in Madrid, D. Darío Villanueva, requesting approval for the establishment of the Ladino Academy in Israel.
The Israeli Academy joins 23 similar academies spread over four continents. All of them are linked to the headquarters in Madrid and together they create an international network of academies in countries (ASALE) where Spanish is active as an official language or where the language is spoken in one way or another.
The Israeli National Academy will operate as an independent branch of the National Authority for Ladino Culture.