An Indian linguist, Zacharia specialized in the Malayalam language of Kerala, South India, contributing significantly to the documentation of Jewish Malayalam literature and oral traditions. He collaborated with members of the Cochin Jewish community and with other scholars studying the Jewish women’s songs - first working with Barbara Johnson on translations for the CD and booklet Oh, Lovely Parrot and most notably as co-author with Israeli scholar Ophira Gamliel of the bi-lingual Karkulali – Yefifiah – Gorgeous!: Jewish Women’s Songs in Malayalam with Hebrew Translations. As shown in Zacharia’s contribution to this current volume, he advocated for a dynamic and inclusive
approach to literary culture, emphasizing the multilingual and "hyphenated" identity of Kerala's Jews.
Zacharia also played a crucial role in recovering archival knowledge and Malayalam manuscripts from the University of Tübingen in Germany. He served as a professor and head of the Department of Malayalam at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and was associated with several academic institutions in India and abroad, including the University of Tübingen and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Zacharia's research significantly contributed to the documentation of Jewish Malayalam literature and oral traditions. He collaborated with members of the Cochin Jewish community and scholars such as , producing bilingual and trilingual publications. He advocated for a dynamic and inclusive approach to literary culture, emphasizing the multilingual and "hyphenated" identity of Kerala's Jews.
He authored and edited over thirty books and published more than 180 articles. Among his accolades are honorary doctorates and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi's Lifetime Achievement Award. Zacharia passed away in October 2022 in Changanassery, Kerala.
(*Photo via https://www.scariaz.info/bio)
Sources
Gamliel, Ophira. “In Memoriam Scaria Zacharia z"l.” Journal of Jewish Languages 11, no. 1 (2023): 10–25. https://brill.com/view/journals/jjl/11/1/article-p10_3.xml.
Zacharia, Scaria. Biography. https://www.scariaz.info/bio.
“Professor Scaria Zacharia.” Kerala Council for Historical Research. https://kchr.ac.in/archive/306/Professor-Scaria-Zacharia.html.
“Scaria Zacharia.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaria_Zacharia.
