Samuel Solomonovich Koteliansky (Самуил Соломонович Котелянский) (February 28, 1880 – January 21, 1955) was a Ukrainian translator of Russian literature into English. He made the transition from his origins in a small Jewish ''shtetl'' to distinction in the rarefied world of English letters. Although he was not a creative writer himself, he befriended, corresponded with, helped publish, and otherwise served as intermediary between some of the most prominent people in English literary life in the early twentieth century.

Biography

Koteliansky was born in the small Jewish ''

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

'' (town) of

Ostropol Staryi Ostropil (), also known as Ostropil (), is a Village#Ukraine, selo on the Sluch River (Ukraine), Sluch River located in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast about 133 miles (222 km) WSW of Kyiv, Ukraine. It hosts the administratio ...

in the

Volhynian Governorate Volhynia Governorate, also known as Volyn Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It consisted of an area of and a population of 2,989,482 inhabitants. The governorate ...

of the Russian Empire (today in

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast (), also known as Khmelnychchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The Capital (political) ...

, western Ukraine), where his first language almost certainly was

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

. The name Koteliansky, according to his biographer Galya Diment, most likely comes from a small town near Ostropol called Kotelianka. He was educated and attended university in Russia. By 1911, financed by his mother, Beila, he had moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he became a great friend of D.H. Lawrence, and

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

. He also adored the short-story writer

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

. Although his romantic affection for her was not reciprocated, the two maintained a close relationship in person and in letters until her early death in 1923. His friendship with her was also documented in a painting by Beatrice Elvery, Lady Glenavy. He was business manager of ''

The Adelphi ''The Adelphi'' or ''New Adelphi'' was an English literary journal founded by John Middleton Murry and published between 1923 and 1955. The first issue appeared in June 1923, with issues published monthly thereafter. Between August 1927 and Se ...

'', a prominent literary journal that published works of Lawrence, Mansfield, the young

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

, and many other leading lights of early- and mid-twentieth-century English letters after its founding in 1923. But Koteliansky eventually broke with the journal's founder (and Katherine Mansfield's husband)

John Middleton Murry John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...

. He was an early translator into English (often with the collaboration of Leonard or Virginia Woolf) of works of Russian authors, such as

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, and

Rozanov Rozanov () is a Russian masculine surname; its feminine counterpart is Rozanova. It may refer to: *Irina Rozanova (born 1961), Russian actress *Maria Rozanova (born 1929), Russian publisher and editor * Olga Rozanova (1886–1918), Russian avant-gar ...

, and he helped those authors achieve prominence in the English-speaking world. Koteliansky ('Kot') was a close friend of the artist Mark Gertler, and they corresponded extensively from 1914 until Gertler's death in 1939.

References

External links

* Galya Diment: ''A Russian Jew of Bloomsbury : the life and times of Samuel Koteliansky'', Montréal .a.: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2011, * * * * 1880 births 1955 deaths Russian–English translators Ukrainian Jews 20th-century Ukrainian translators British people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Ukrainian emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast Translators from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom {{Russia-writer-stub