Monique Laederach (16 May 1938 – 17 March 2004) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

writer and translator. She published poems, novels, radio plays, plays for the theatre and literary criticism. Laederach also translated works by German-language writers such as

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 real ...

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant ...

Erika Burkart Erika Burkart (8 February 1922 – 14 April 2010) was a Swiss writer, teacher and poet. She wrote poems and epic poems, and received international recognition. Burkart was the recipient of many awards, among them the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis ...

and

Adolf Muschg Adolf Muschg (born 13 May 1934) is a Swiss writer and professor of literature. Muschg was a member of the Gruppe Olten. Biography Adolf Muschg was born in Zollikon, canton of Zürich, Switzerland. He studied German studies, English studies ...

into French. Laederach was a member of the Gruppe Olten. A complete collection of her poems was published in 2003. She received the

Schiller Prize The Schiller Prize was a Swiss literary award which was established in 1905 to promote Swiss literature and was awarded until 2012 when it was replaced as a national literary award by the Swiss Literature Awards. The prize was awarded by the S ...

in 1977, 1982 and 2000.

Life

The daughter of Jean-Rodolphe Laederach and Hilde Maeder, Monique Laederach was born in Les Brenets on 16 May 1938. She studied music in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, going on to pursue the study of literature at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

and the

University of Neuchâtel The University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) is a French-speaking public research university in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The university has four faculties (schools) and more than a dozen institutes, including arts and human sciences, natural sciences, ...

, graduating in 1974. During this time, she also taught

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. She published poems, novels, radio plays, plays for the theatre and literary criticism. Her first published work was a book of poetry, ''L'Etain la source'', (Spring Pewter) which was published in 1970. Her first full novel was ''La femme séparée'' (The Separated Woman), in 1982, which "depicts a young woman searching for her identity". Laederach also translated works by German-language writers such as

and

into French. From 1961 to 1973, she was married to the Swiss writer . Laederach participated in literary conferences in Great Britain, Scandinavia, the United States, Canada and Mexico. She was a member of the Gruppe Olten. A complete collection of her poems was published in 2003. She received the

in 1977, 1982 and 2000. Laederach died in Peseux at the age of 65.

Selected works

Laederach's work include: * ''L'Etain la source'', poetry (1970) * ''Pénélope'', poetry (1971) * ''La femme séparée'', novel (1982) * ''Trop petits pour Dieu'', novel (1986) * ''Les noces de Cana'', novel (1996) * ''Je n'ai pas dansé dans l'île'', novel (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laederach, Monique 1938 births 2004 deaths Swiss poets in French Swiss women novelists Swiss translators 20th-century Swiss translators Swiss women poets 20th-century Swiss poets 20th-century Swiss novelists 21st-century Swiss novelists 21st-century Swiss women writers 20th-century Swiss women writers University of Neuchâtel alumni Translators of Rainer Maria Rilke