Ruby Daniel

Ruby "Rivka" Daniel (Hebrew: רובי "רבקה" דניאל; Malayalam: റൂബി ദാനിയേൽ; December 1912 - 23 September 2002) was a Malayali of Cochin Jewish heritage, the first Malayali woman in the Indian Navy, and the first Cochin Jewish woman to publish a book. Between the years of 1982–1999 Daniel translated into English over 120 Judeo-Malayalam women’s songs. Her translation efforts led the way for an ongoing international project to translate and analyze the songs within the Cochin Jewish community. Ruby Daniel was born in Kochi, India and was the eldest child of Eliyahu Hai Daniel and Leah Japheth Daniel. Her father, Eliyahu Hai Daniel, sold tickets for the ferry boat which connected Cochin with Ernakulam. Ruby had two younger siblings - Bingley and Rahel. Ruby also lived with her maternal grandparents, Eliyahu and Rivka ("Docho") Japheth. Ruby Daniel excelled in school, both at the local government school for girls and at the Jewish school where she studied Hebrew, Torah, and the synagogue liturgy every morning and afternoon. She attended St. Treasas Convent Girls Higher Secondary School in Ernakulam. She completed high school there and studied one year at St. Teresa's College. She left St. Teresa’s College after her father and grandfather died in the same year.