Sarah Jacob Cohen (September 4, 1922 – August 30, 2019) was the oldest living member of Kochi’s Jewish community, visited by The

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

Mattancherry Mattancherry (; Cochin Portuguese Creole: ''Cochim de Cima'' ), is a historic ward of Kochi, Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, follow ...

, Kochi in November 2013. She was a prominent member of the Jewish community that arrived in Mattancherry, Kochi, in the south Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

over 500 years ago, from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. She was dedicated to keeping alive simple Jewish traditions like

kippah A (plural: ''kippot''), , or is a brimless Jewish cap, skullcap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that the Head covering, head be covered. It is the most common type of head-coverin ...

making in a far flung Jewish outpost. Cohen had a number of relatives living in Israel, including brother Joseph and sister Hanny, as well as half siblings who lived across the globe. She died on August 30, 2019, at the age of 96.

References

Cochin Jews People from Mattancherry 1922 births 2019 deaths Malayali people Women from Kerala 20th-century Indian Jews 21st-century Indian Jews {{India-bio-stub