Elia R. Carmona

Elia Rafael Carmona (Ladino: אליה רפאל קארמונה; October 21, 1869 – 1931) was a Ladino language author and journalist from the Ottoman Empire. A native of Constantinople, Carmona was the most prolific known author of original novels in Ladino (also known as Judeo-Spanish), writing dozens of novels and novellas (romansos) throughout his lifetime. Carmona was also the founder and editor of El Jugueton (איל ג'וגיטון), a periodical dedicated to humor and satire. His prolific corpus of work is representative of the emerging interest in secular literature among the Sephardic Jews of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.