Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the '' Inkworld'' trilogy by

Cornelia Funke Cornelia Maria Funke (; born 10 December 1958) is a German author of children's fiction. Born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, she began her career as a social worker before becoming a Book illustration, book illustrator. She began writing no ...

and the French ''

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

'' comics with co-translator

Derek Hockridge Derek Hockridge (1934 – 8 August 2013) was a British translator, teacher, lecturer, and occasional actor, who was perhaps best known for his translations of the '' Asterix'' comic book series. Born in Wales and brought up in Birmingham, he com ...

Biography

Bell was born in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

on 10 May 1936. According to her own accounts, she picked up

lateral thinking Lateral thinking is a manner of Problem solving, solving problems using an indirect and creativity, creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious. Synonymous to thinking outside the box, it involves ideas that may not be obtai ...

abilities essential in a translator from her father Adrian Bell, Suffolk author and the first '' Times''

cryptic crossword A cryptic crossword is a crossword, crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, as well as Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth ...

setter. Her mother, Marjorie Bell (née Gibson), was a home maker. The couple's son, Bell's brother,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, is a former

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

correspondent who was an independent Member of Parliament for one parliamentary term. After attending a boarding school in Bournemouth, she read English at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

. She was married to the publisher and writer Antony Kamm from 1957 to 1973; the couple had two sons, Richard and Oliver.

Oliver Kamm Oliver Kamm (born 1963) is a British journalist and writer who was a leader writer and columnist for ''The Times''. Early life and career Kamm is the son of translator Anthea Bell and publisher Antony Kamm. Kamm is the grandson of Adrian Be ...

is a leader writer for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. After her sons left home, she lived and worked in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. She died on 18 October 2018, aged 82.

Works

Anthea Bell's career as a translator began at the end of the 1950s when the German publisher Klaus Flugge asked Antony Kamm if he knew anyone able to translate , a book for children by Otfried Preussler. Kamm recommended his wife; Bell's English version entitled ''The Little Water Sprite'' was published in 1960. Eventually, she translated Preussler's entire works. Over the decades, Bell translated numerous Franco-Belgian comics of the genre into English, including ''

'' – for which her new puns were praised for keeping the original French spirit intact. Peter Hunt, now Professor Emeritus in Children's Literature at

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

, has written of her "ingenious translations" of the French originals which "in a way display the art of the translator at its best". Other comic books she has translated include , '' Lieutenant Blueberry'', and ''

Iznogoud ''Iznogoud'' (; from "is no good" pronounced with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and ...

''. She specialised in translating children's literature, and re-translated

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

's fairytales from Danish for the publishing house of G. P. Putnam's Sons. She also translated the ''Inkworld'' trilogy by

and the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier. Other works include ''The Princess and the Captain'' (2006), translated from by Anne-Laure Bondoux. Bell also translated into English many adult novels, as well as some books on

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, and

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

. She translated W. G. Sebald's '' Austerlitz'' (plus other works by Sebald), and

Władysław Szpilman Władysław Szpilman (; 5 December 1911 – 6 July 2000) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish pianist, Classical music, classical composer and Holocaust survivor. Szpilman is widely known as the central figure in the Roman Polansk ...

's memoir '' The Pianist'' (translated, at the author's request, from the German version). Her translations of works by

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

have been said to have helped restore his reputation among anglophone readers, and that of E. T. A. Hoffmann's '' The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr'' (originally ) has had a positive effect on Hoffman's profile as well. In addition,

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...

published Bell's new translation of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

's '' The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'' in 2003. Oxford University Press published her translation of Kafka's ''The Castle'' in 2009. She contributed an essay titled "Translation: Walking the Tightrope of Illusion" to a 2006 book, ''The Translator as Writer'', in which she explained her preference for 'invisible' translation whereby she creates the illusion that readers are not reading a translation "but the real thing". Bell was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Chris ...

for her services to literature and literary translations. In 2014, Bell faithfully retranslated

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

's 1949 German children's novel into English as ''The Parent Trap'', after

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's popular

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of the book. Bell's translation was published in the United Kingdom and Australia by Pushkin Press, replacing Cyrus Brooks' 1962 English translation, which is still published in the United States and Canada as ''Lisa and Lottie''. In 2020, Australian actress Ruby Rees recorded an unabridged narration of Bell's translation for Bolinda. Bell received the German Federal Republic's Cross of Merit in 2015.

Illness and death

In a December 2017 newspaper column, Bell's son Oliver Kamm revealed that his mother had entered a nursing home due to illness a year earlier, and "her great mind has now departed". As a result of her forced retirement, the 37th book in the ''Asterix'' series, '' Asterix and the Chariot Race'' (published in October 2017), was translated by

Adriana Hunter Adriana Hunter is a British translator of French literature. She is known for translating over 60 French novels, such as '' Fear and Trembling'' by Amélie Nothomb or '' The Girl Who Played Go'' by Shan Sa. She has been short-listed for the Ind ...

. The end of the book has a message of thanks from the publishers to Bell for "her wonderful translation work on ''Asterix'' over the years". Bell died on 18 October 2018 at the age of 82.

Notable awards

* 1987 –

Schlegel-Tieck Prize The Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation is a literary translation award given by the Society of Authors in London. Translations from the German original into English are considered for the prize. The value of the prize is £3,000, while t ...

for Hans Bemmann's ''The Stone and the Flute'' * 1996 –

Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation The Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation was a Literary award, literary prize awarded in the United Kingdom from 1996 until 2017 to the translator of an outstanding work of Children's literature, fiction for young readers translated ...

– for Christine Nöstlinger's ''A Dog's Life'' translated from German * 2002 – Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize,

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

– for W. G. Sebald's '' Austerlitz'' * 2002 –

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize The ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize (1990–2015) was a British literary award. It was inaugurated by British newspaper ''The Independent'' to honour contemporary fiction in translation in the United Kingdom. The award was first launched i ...

– for W. G. Sebald's '' Austerlitz'' * 2002 –

for W. G. Sebald's '' Austerlitz'' * 2003 –

– for Karen Duve's ''Rain'' translated from German * 2003 –

– for

Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...

's ''Where Were You Robert?'' translated from German * 2007 –

– for Kai Meyer's ''The Flowing Queen'' translated from German * 2009 –

Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize The Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language. The first prize was awarded in 1999. The prize is funded by and named in honour of Lord Wei ...

– for

Saša Stanišić Saša Stanišić ( sr-cyr, Саша Станишић; born 7 March 1978) is a Bosnian-German writer. Biography He was born in Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina as the son of a Bosniaks, Bosniak mother and a Serbs, Serb father. In the spring o ...

's ''How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone'' * 2009 –

for

's ''Burning Secret'' * 2017 – Eric Carle Museum Bridge Award for contributions to children's literature

Mildred L. Batchelder Award

The

Mildred L. Batchelder Award The Mildred L. Batchelder Award, or Batchelder Award, is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the publisher of the year's "most outstanding" children's book translated into English-language, English and published ...

is unusual in that it is given to a ''publisher'' yet it explicitly references a given work, its translator and its author. Its intent is to encourage the translation of children's works into English in order "to eliminate barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages". Anthea Bell, translating from German, French and Danish, has been mentioned for more works than any other individual or organisation (including publishers) in the history of the award:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Anthea 1936 births 2018 deaths Writers from Suffolk Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford English translators Danish–English translators Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature French–English translators German–English translators Literary translators Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Translators of Sigmund Freud Winners of the Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation National Book Critics Circle Award winners