Literatureרובי דניאל

Ruby Daniel

Ruby Daniel was a Cochin Jewish author and translator, the first Cochin Jewish woman to publish a book, known for translating Judeo-Malayalam women's songs into English.

1912 to 2002Memoir Ruby of CochinTranslating Judeo-Malayalam women's songsFirst Malayali woman in Indian Navy

Died: 23 September 2002, Neot Mordechai
Occupation: author, translator

Ruby Daniel was born in 1912 in Kochi

Ruby Daniel was born in December 1912 in Kochi, India, the eldest child of Eliyahu Hai Daniel and Leah Japheth Daniel. Her father sold tickets for the ferry between Cochin and Ernakulam. Her family belonged to the Paradesi community.

She studied at the government school for girls and at a Jewish school, where she learned Hebrew and religious studies. She finished high school at a convent school in Ernakulam and studied one year at St. Teresa's College. She left college after her father and grandfather died.

She worked as a clerk in the High Court, the District Court and the Munsiff Court. From 1944 to 1946 she served in the Women's Royal Indian Navy, as the first Malayali woman in the Indian Navy.

In 1951 she immigrated to Israel and joined Kibbutz Neot Mordechai with her sister. Her memoir, Ruby of Cochin, appeared in 1995. From 1982 to 1999 she translated more than 120 Judeo-Malayalam women's songs into English, and she also published a booklet of 9 songs.

She died on 23 September 2002 at Neot Mordechai and was buried there.