The Discovery of the First Printed Translation into Ladino of Pirkey Avot (Thessaloniki, ca. 1570)

Between 1552 and 1965, numerous Ladino translations of Pirkey Avot (“Ethics of the Fathers”) were published using either Hebrew or Latin char­acters at various locations throughout the Ottoman Empire as well as in Italy, Amsterdam and London. The first known printed Ladino translation using Hebrew characters was published in 1601 at Giovanni di Gara’s printing house in Venice. Previous research has proven that this Venice translation more strongly resembles later translations originating from Eastern Mediterranean diaspora communities, especially Thessaloniki, than it does those published in the Italy, Amsterdam or London. A version of a Ladino translation of Pirkey Avot from Thessaloniki ca. 1570 has recently been discovered among remnants of the Cairo Genizah in Cambridge. A comparison of the 1601 and 1570 versions shows that not only are they very similar, but that it is also evident that the 1601 version is based on the Thessaloniki translation ca. 1570. Other texts published in Venice at the same printing house support this conclusion. This edition is now considered the oldest known version published in Ladino.