Denise Lévy, née Kahn, later Denise Naville (1896-1979) was a French writer and translator.Isabelle Kalinowski
Denise Naville traductrice
in Françoise Blum, ed., ''Les vies de Pierre Naville''. Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2007. Active in early

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

, she and her husband

Pierre Naville Pierre Naville (1 February 1903 – 24 April 1993) was a French Surrealist writer and sociologist.Stubb, JeremyObituary: Pierre Naville ''The Independent'', 3 June 1993. He was a prominent member of the "Investigating Sex" group of Surrealist ...

later moved away from surrealist activity to work with

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...

. She translated writing by Trotsky,

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Pa ...

, Hans Erich Nossack,

Carl von Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His mo ...

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

and Paul Celan from German into French.A. Cuenot
NAVILLE Denise, née KAHN Denise
''Maitron'', version posted on November 30, 2010, last modified December 11, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2020.

Life

Denise Kahn was born on June 26, 1896, to a French-speaking family in Sarreguemines, then part of the German imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine.

Simone Kahn Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 ...

(later Simone Breton) was a cousin. By 1920 she was an active part of socialist intellectual life in Strasbourg. In 1921 she married Georges Lévy. Moving to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, she used her bilingualism to introduce friends to presurrealist currents in

German literature German literature () comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a l ...

. Andre Breton,

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review '' Littérature''. He w ...

, Rene Char and

Paul Eluard Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

all wrote poems to her. In 1926 she married

, the founding co-editor of '' La Révolution surréaliste''. In the late 1920s the pair moved away from surrealism to concentrate on supporting Trotsky against the Stalization of the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

. They became friends of Leon and Natalia Trotsky in exile. She helped Trotsky translate several of his books into German, and she translated his ''Towards Socialism or Capitalism?'' into French. She died on 20 January 1979 in Paris. Kahn also made translations of Arnold Schönberg's ''Treaty of Harmony'', as well as work by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, Frege and

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian- British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is cons ...

, which were never published. Louis Aragon's letters to Denise Lévy have been published, as have those of her cousin Simone Breton.Simone Breton, ''Lettres à Denise Lévy, 1919-1929: et autres textes, 1924-1975''. Ed. Georgiana Colville. Paris: J. Losfeld, 2005.

Works

Translations

* (anon.) 'Leonce et Lena' by

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büch ...

, ''Commerce'', 1924. * ''Correspondance complète'' by

. Paris: Gallimard, 1948. Translated from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

''Interview mit dem Tode''. * ''Interview avec la mort'' by Hans Erich Nossack. Paris: Gallimard, 1948. * ''Dialectique de la nature'' by

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Carl von Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His mo ...

. Paris: Les Editions de Minuit, 1955. With a preface by Camille Rougeron and an introduction by Pierre Naville. Translated from the

'' Vom Kriege''. * ''L'Économie politique du rentier'' by

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

Other writing

* 'Textes surrealistes', '' La Révolution surréaliste'', No. 3 (April 1925)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Denise 1896 births 1979 deaths French surrealist writers French translators German–French translators French Trotskyists