Amalia Popper (Trieste, 26 August 1891 – Florence, 1967) was the first Italian

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's works and author of his first biography, published as an introduction to his translation of ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

'', published in 1935 in Trieste under the title "Araby". According to Joyce biographer

Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American Literary criticism, literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and W. B. Yeats, William Butler Yeats. ...

, Amalia Popper is the woman to whom the love poem "Giacomo Joyce" is dedicated, and was one of the sources of inspiration for the character of

Molly Bloom Molly Bloom is a fictional character in the 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' by James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contribu ...

in '' Ulysses''.

Early life

Amalia Popper was born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, the daughter of Leopold Popper, a Bohemian insurer of Jewish origin, and Letizia Luzzatto, a Venetian with a vocation for painting. In 1908-09 she was a private pupil of James Joyce, who taught her English. During this period, the Irish writer established a bond of friendship with the Popper family, frequenting their home even outside the lessons given to his daughters. She then attended the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

where she met Michele Risolo, her future husband. In 1929 Stannie Joyce asked her to publish a contribution in Erewhon. Thinking of her Jewish roots, she suggested an essay on Zangwill, but Popper preferred to try her luck in translating some of the stories contained in ''Dubliners: Araby, A cloud, Counterparts, Evelina, The Dead''. The translated texts were revised and corrected by Joyce himself and published in the early thirties in the Piccolo di Trieste. In 1935 they were collected in the volume "Araby", accompanied by a brief biography of Joyce authorized by him. During World War II Popper moved to Florence, where she worked as an English and German teacher. She died in 1967 after a long illness.

Identification with Molly Bloom

Amalia Popper suddenly gained notoriety in 1968
L'amore triestino di Joyce: non era Amalia ma Emma Cuzzi
' da Corriere.it when Joyce biographer Richard Ellmann, based on the words of Stannie Joyce, identified her as the inspirational muse of the poem Giacomo Joyce, written in 1914 and published posthumously. According to Ellmann, Amalia Popper was also one of the models used by Joyce for the character of Molly Bloom in Ulysses., in particular "because of the character and her southern European appearance". Even the name Molly would be a reference to Amalia, whom they used to call at home with the diminutives Malietta, Maliú or Màli.Michele Risolo, "Corriere della Sera", 27 febbraio 1969 (vd. anch
bartolomeodimonaco.it
Leopold Bloom would be a reference to Amalia's father, Leopold Popper.

References

Bibliography

* Carla Carloni Mocavero, ''La casa de Amalia''. ''Espejo de James Joyce'', Ibiskos Editora #Reír, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, Amalia 1967 deaths 1891 births 20th-century Italian women writers Italian translators English–Italian translators