Joseph Charles Mardrus, otherwise known as "Jean-Charles Mardrus" (1868–1949), was a French physician, poet, and a noted translator. Today he is best known for his translation of the ''

Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of History of the Middle East, Middle Eastern List of fairy tales, folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nigh ...

'' from

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

into

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, which was published from 1898 to 1904, and was in turn rendered into English by

Edward Powys Mathers Edward Powys Mathers (28 August 1892 – 3 February 1939) was an English translator and poet, and also a pioneer of compiling advanced cryptic crosswords. Powys Mathers was born in Forest Hill, London, the son of Edward Peter Mathers, news ...

. A newer edition, '' Le livre des mille nuits et une nuit'', was published in 1926–1932.

Biography

Mardrus was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1868 to a Catholic family of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

-descent, and studied in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

before settling in Paris, France. As a doctor for the French government, he worked throughout

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and the Far East. He produced other translations, some illustrated by the Swiss engraver

François-Louis Schmied François-Louis Schmied (November 8, 1873, in Geneva – January 1941 in Tahanaout, Morocco), was a French painter, wood engraver, printer, editor, illustrator, and bookbinder. Of Swiss origin, François-Louis Schmied established himself in Fr ...

(1873–1941). He married the novelist and poet Lucie Delarue-Mardrus on 5 June 1900. In 1914 he met Gabrielle Bralant ("Cobrette"), whom he would later marry, and he and Lucie separated in the following year. Elvira Buder (born 1918) claimed to have travelled from Egypt via Greece with Mardrus in the 1930s with the intention of attending the Sorbonne. Soon after arriving in Paris war broke out and she found herself pregnant and in France on an Italian passport. Buder left France for Italy when the Germans occupied Paris, although she claimed that Mardrus was not the father of her child. Much later they met for the last time when Buder had just married E.W.N. Mallows, son of C.E. Mallows

Charles Edward Mallows Charles Edward Mallows FRIBA (5 May 1864 – 2 June 1915), often known as C. E. Mallows, was an England, English architect and landscape architect. He is considered to be part of the Arts and Crafts movement, Arts and Craft movement in British a ...

. Mardrus was a friend of

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

and introduced Buder to him.

Works

* ''Les Mille et Une Nuits'' (''The 1001 Nights'', edited by Robert Laffont; in the Bouquins collection) * ''L’Apocalypse qui est la révélation'' * ''Le Livre des Morts de l’Ancienne Égypte'' * ''Le Cantique des Cantiques'' * ''Le Livre des Rois'' * ''Sucre d’amour'' (1926), illustrated by

* ''La Reine de Saba'' (1918) * ''La Reine de Saba et divers autres contes'' (1921) * ''Le Marié Magique'' (1930), Société des Bibliophiles Franco-Suisses Illustrations de

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (; 30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important ...

Jean Saude Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

* ''Le Koran'', commissioned by the French government in 1925 * ''Le Paradis musulman'' (1930), illustrated by

* ''Toute-Puissance de l'Adepte'' (Le Livre de la Vérité de Parole) 1932

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardrus, J. C. 1868 births 1949 deaths Arabic–French translators Translators from Arabic Mardrus, JC Translators of One Thousand and One Nights Writers from Cairo Armenian orientalists 19th-century French writers