Nina Pinto-Abecasis
Israeli folklorist (1971–2019)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nina Pinto-Abecasis (Hebrew: נינה פינטו אבקסיס, 1971 – 22 July 2019) was an Israeli folklorist, writer and educator. Her folklore research specialised in the Haketia (also written as Hakitia or Haquitía) language, a form of Judaeo-Spanish historically spoken by Sephardim in North Africa. She was also known for advocating for the inclusion of nicknames in folklore studies.
Nina Pinto-Abecasis | |
|---|---|
נינה פינטו אבקסיס | |
| |
| Born | 1971 Ashkelon, Israel |
| Died | 22 July 2019 (aged 48) Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Education | Hebrew University of Jerusalem Yad Ben Zvi |
| Employer(s) | Haaretz Kol Yisrael Ashkelon Academic College Bar-Ilan University |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works |
Biography
Pinto-Abecasis was born in 1971 in Ashkelon, Israel. Her parents had emigrated to Israel from Tétouan, Morocco, during the 1960s. She wrote a book about her childhood growing up in the Shimshon neighbourhood and her family heritage.[1]
After completing her military service,[1] Pinto-Abecasis studied a bachelor's degree and master's degree in Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[2]
After graduating from university, she had a media career. She covered police and crime affairs for the Haaretz newspaper[3] and wrote and presented a radio programme on Kol Yisrael from 1995 to 1996.[2]
From 2001 to 2008, Pinto-Abecasis was a lecturer at Ashkelon Academic College. She then completed a PhD at Yad Ben Zvi research institute. From 2012, she was a research fellow at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.[2]
Pinto-Abecasis' folklore research specialised in the Haketia (also written as Hakitia or Haquitía) language, a form of Judaeo-Spanish historically spoken by Sephardim in North Africa.[4][3] She was also known for advocating for the inclusion of nicknames in folklore studies, publishing Towards the inclusion of nicknames in the genres of folklore: The case of the former Jewish community of Tetuan, Morocco in 2014, covering her findings about humour and gender in Hebrew-based nickname practices.[5][6] From 2015, she served as a consultant on the board of the National Authority for the Culture of Ladino.[2][7]
Pinto-Abecasis won the 2018 Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works (also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award).[1]
Pinto-Abecasis died from gastrointestinal cancer on 22 July 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, aged 48.[1][7] She wrote a book about her battle with cancer, which was published around the time of her death.[8]