With great sadness we mourn the passing of Güler Orgun, our dear friend and colleague in Istanbul, on May 21, 2026.
Güler was an early member and until her death a moderator of Ladinokomunita, the online Ladino correspondence group established in 1999. She was also the first person to establish a Ladino online dictionary, the so-called “Diksionaryo de Ladinokomunita” with definitions to and from Turkish, English, and Spanish. A native Ladino speaker, Güler had taken a special Spanish course for Ladino speakers in Istanbul’s Cervantes Center in 2002. She established the online dictionary, together with professor Antonio Luis Tinoco, Spanish professor in Japan, whom she knew, based on the long Ladino-Spanish glossary she had developed in that special Spanish course. She worked further with many others to enrich the dictionary, adding French and even some Portuguese equivalents of words. Unfortunately, the dictionary had to be taken offline when Professor Tinoco retired, but not before Güler had sent the pdf form of the dictionary to whoever requested it.
Güler seemed to delight in helping people any way she could, always behind the scenes, never seeking or even taking recognition for her work. Besides assisting with Ladinokomunita tasks, she also co-edited, with Karen Gerson, the Ladino monthly El Amaneser, since its inception in 2005 in Istanbul. Güler gave countless hours of her time to help academics and others who were working on books or projects having to do with Ladino. Thus, we note the dedication to Güler in Professor Renée Levine Melamed’s book “An Ode to Salonica,” for example. Nor can we ever forget that it was Güler who made all the arrangements for the tour of Turkey of the large group from Ladinokomunita in 2008.
The list can go on.
Dear Güler, we will miss having you around as we go on with the work of keeping our Judeo-Spanish language alive. But it is the kindness of your heart, the gentleness of your spirit, which will inspire us. Rest in peace, dear friend.
Rachel Amado Bortnick
Dallas, TX