Translator Biographies

Medieval era

Marie de France

c. 1101 – c. 1300

Medieval poet

Christine de Pizan

d. 1430

French poet and author (1364 – c. 1430)

Medieval era

Jean de Meun

1240 – 1305

French author (1240–1305)

Medieval era

Henry Suso

March 21, 1295 – January 25, 1366

German Dominican friar and mystic

Medieval era

Borzuya

c. 500 CE – c. 600 CE

Persian scientist

Ancient era

Origen

185 CE – 254 CE

Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian (c. 185 – c. 253)

Modern era

Subramania Siva

October 4, 1884 – July 23, 1925

Indian independence activist, writer, and editor (1884–1925)

Modern era

Pandita Ramabai

April 23, 1858 – April 5, 1922

Indian feminist historian and social reformer (1858–1922)

Modern era

Dhondo Keshav Karve

April 18, 1858 – November 9, 1962

Indian social reformer (1858–1962)

Modern era

Mirza Hadi Ruswa

1857 – October 21, 1931

Indian Urdu poet and writer of fiction, plays, and treatises

Modern era

Muhammad Hasan Askari

November 5, 1919 – January 18, 1978

Writer, Critic, Short story writer, translator (1919–1978)

Modern era

Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi

May 15, 1864 – December 21, 1938

Indian writer (1864-1938)

Modern era

Maithili Sharan Gupt

August 3, 1886 – December 12, 1964

Indian poet and one of the pioneers of modern Hindi literature(1886-1964)

Modern era

Vallathol Narayana Menon

October 16, 1878 – March 13, 1958

Indian poet (1878-1958)

Modern era

Mirza Ibrahim

October 15, 1911 – December 17, 1993

Azerbaijani writer (1911-1993)

Medieval era

John Wycliffe

c. 1320 – December 31, 1384

English theologian and dissident in the Roman Catholic Church

Medieval era

Jan Hus

1369 – July 6, 1415

Czech theologian, philosopher and preacher (1369-1415)

Medieval era

William Tyndale

1494 – October 6, 1536

English Bible translator and reformer

Medieval era

Ulrich Zwingli

January 1, 1484 – October 11, 1531

Protestant Reformation leader in Switzerland, Swiss Reformed Church founder (1484-1531)

Medieval era

Xuanzang

602 CE – 664 CE

7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar (602–664)

Modern era

Jose Marti

January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895

Cuban poet, philosopher and nationalist (1853-1895)

Early Modern era

Alexander Pope

May 21, 1688 – May 30, 1744

English poet (1688–1744)

Modern era

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882

American poet and educator (1807–1882)

Modern era

Edith Wharton

January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937

American writer and designer (1862–1937)

Modern era

D. H. Lawrence

September 11, 1885 – March 2, 1930

English writer and poet (1885–1930)

Modern era

Seamus Heaney

April 13, 1939 – August 30, 2013

Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer (1939–2013)

Modern era

Fernando Pessoa

June 13, 1888 – November 30, 1935

Portuguese poet, writer, and philosopher (1888–1935); creator of the heteronymic system including Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos, and Bernardo Soares

Modern era

Jose Saramago

November 16, 1922 – June 18, 2010

Portuguese novelist (1922–2010)

Modern era

Clarice Lispector

December 10, 1920 – December 9, 1977

Ukrainian-Brazilian writer, poet, and journalist (1920–1977)

Modern era

Boris Pasternak

February 10, 1890 – May 30, 1960

Russian writer (1890–1960)

Modern era

Anna Akhmatova

June 11, 1889 – March 5, 1966

Russian poet (1889–1966)

Modern era

Stefan Zweig

November 28, 1881 – February 23, 1942

Austrian writer (1881–1942)

Modern era

Milan Kundera

April 1, 1929 – July 11, 2023

Franco-Czechoslovak poet and novelist (1929—2023)

Modern era

Wole Soyinka

b. July 13, 1934

Nigerian writer (born 1934)

Modern era

Ursula K. Le Guin

October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018

American fantasy and science fiction author (1929–2018)

Modern era

Walter Benjamin

July 15, 1892 – September 26, 1940

German cultural critic, philosopher and social critic (1892–1940)

Early Modern era

Hiram Bingham

October 30, 1789 – November 11, 1869

American missionary to the Kingdom of Hawai'i