Koen-Sarano was born in Milan in 1939 to a Sephardic family from Turkey. Her grandfather, Moshe, was born in Bergama in 1874. Her parents, Alfredo Sarano and Diana Hadjes, were both born in Aydın. Her father lived in Rhodes until 1925, while her mother in İzmir until 1938, marrying in Milan in 1938. During World War II, the family hid in the Italian mountains from the Nazi persecutions. Her father became the Secretary of the Jewish Community of Milan from 1945 until 1969. She married Aaron Koen and made aliya in 1960.
Career
Matilda studied in the Jewish Community School of Milan, and also studied languages at the Bocconi University in Milan and also Italian literature and Judaeo-Spanish literature and Judaeo-Spanish folklore at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She made aliyah in 1960. In the summer of 1979, she participated in the seminar for Ladino language radio producers held at Kol Israel. This sparked in her the desire to write in this language and of putting the spotlight on everything she lived by the end of her childhood. In order to achieve this, she started interviewing several people from the Sephardic world to record and keep hundreds of folk tales and traditional stories. Besides, this activity she made her return to the university as a scholar. Then she published her first book of Sephardic folk tales, named Kuentos del Folklor de la Famiya Djudeo-Espanyola in 1986, in Jerusalem. In April 2009 she published her most recent book, "Kon bayles i kantes, Sefaradis de dor en dor". Koen-Sarano has taught Ladino at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev since 1996 and a course for Ladino Teachers, organized by The National Authority for Ladino and its Culture, in Jerusalem since 1998. Also, she writes the Judeo-Spanish News at Kol Israel.
Published works
Kuentos del folklor de la famiya djudeo-espanyola + kaseta de kuentos, Kana, Yerushaláyim, 1986.
Djohá ke dize?, Kana, Yerushaláyim, 1991.
Konsejas i konsejikas del mundo djudeo-espanyol, Kana, Yerushaláyim, 1994.
Lejendas i kuentos morales de la tradisión djudeo-espanyola, Nur, Yerushaláyim, 1999.
Viní kantaremos, koleksión de kantes djudeo-espanyoles, Edisión de la Autora, Jerusalem, 1993. Tresera edisión 2003, kuartena edisión 2006.
Sipuré Eliau Anaví, kon notas de Shifra Safra, Midrashiat Amalia, Jerusalem, 1993-4.
De Saragoza a Yerushaláyim, Ibercaja, Zaragoza, 1995.
Storie di Giochà, in two editions:one for schools and another for the general public, Sansoni, Firenze, 1990.
Le storie del re Salomone. Sansoni, Firenze, 1993.
Sefaradís de dor en dor, music soap opera. Music by Hayim Tsur. Israeli Ministry for Education and Culture, Jerusalem., 1997,. Adapted for the Radio in 1999.
Mil i un Djohá, komedia muzikal, Edisión de la Autora, Jerusalem 1998. Translated into English by Gloria J. Ascher, U.S.A., 2003.
Maridos i mujeres, radio soap opera in 12 sketches, music by Hayim Tsur, Edisión de la Autora. Jerusalem, 2000.
Tres ermanikas, komedia radiofónika, music of Hayim Tsur, Edisión de la Autora. Jerusalem, 2000. Adapted into a play in 2004.
Kurso de Djudeo-Espanyol para Prinsipiantes, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, 1999. En traduksión al inglés de Gloria J. Ascher, idem 1999/2002.
Kurso de Djudeo-Espanyol para Adelantados, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, 1999..
Kon Maymon Benchimol, Vokabulario Djudeo- Espanyol – Ebreo; Ebreo -Djudeo-Espanyol, Ben Gurion University in the Negev, 1999.
Tabelas de verbos en Djudeo-Espanyol, Ed. de la Autora. Jerusalem, 1999.
Ritmo antiko, poezías i kantigas, Edisión de la Autora. Jerusalem, 2005.
Por el plazer de kontar – Kuentos de mi vida. Selection of stories. Nur Afakot. Jerusalem, 2006.
C.D.s Jewish Ladino Songs, Hataklit, Ramat-Gan, 1993 Narration by Matilda Koén-Sarano, music by Hayim Tsur. C.D. Nostaljía, Hataklit, Ramat-Gan, 1995, narrated by Matilda Koén-Sarano; music by Hayim Tsur. Hataklit, 1999. C.D. Dí ke no es tadre, 14 new stories in Ladino. Narration by Matilda Koén-Sarano, music by Avraham Reuveni. Jerusalem, 2002.
