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| '''Constance Garnett''' (née '''Black''') (], ] - ], ]) was an English translator whose translations of ] ]n classics first introduced them on a wide basis to the English public. Garnett is the first English translator of ] and ]. | '''Constance Clara Garnett''' (née '''Black''') (], ] - ], ]) was an English translator whose translations of ] ]n classics first introduced them on a wide basis to the English public. Garnett is the first English translator of ] and ]. | ||
| Garnett studied ] and ], worked shortly as a school teacher. In ], shortly after a visit to Moscow during which she met ], she started translating ], which became her life passion and resulted in English-language versions of dozens of volumes by Tolstoy, ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | Born in ], Garnett studied ] and ] at ], where she also learned ], and worked shortly as a school teacher. In ], shortly after a visit to ] and ] during which she met ], she started translating ], which became her life passion and resulted in English-language versions of dozens of volumes by Tolstoy, ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. | ||
| Her husband, ], was a distinguished reader for the publisher ]. Her son, ], trained as a biologist and later wrote novels. | Her husband, ], was a distinguished reader for the publisher ]. Her son, ], trained as a biologist and later wrote novels. | ||
Revision as of 17:03, 5 December 2005
Constance Clara Garnett (née Black) (December 19, 1861 - December 17, 1946) was an English translator whose translations of nineteenth-century Russian classics first introduced them on a wide basis to the English public. Garnett is the first English translator of Dostoevsky and Chekhov.
Born in Brighton, Garnett studied Latin and Greek at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she also learned Russian, and worked shortly as a school teacher. In 1893, shortly after a visit to Moscow and Petersburg during which she met Leo Tolstoy, she started translating Russian literature, which became her life passion and resulted in English-language versions of dozens of volumes by Tolstoy, Gogol, Goncharov, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Turgenev, Ostrovsky and Chekhov.
Her husband, Edward Garnett, was a distinguished reader for the publisher Jonathan Cape. Her son, David Garnett, trained as a biologist and later wrote novels.
Constance Garnett's translations of Russian classics were highly acclaimed in her time and are still being reprinted today, despite occasional complaints of them being outdated. While she kept close to the syntax and vocabulary of the original, she occasionally excised certain portions liberally, as in her translations of Dostoevsky. It is sometimes claimed that she "retold Russian literature in Victorian English"; this is not strictly true, as the English she used is Edwardian rather than Victorian.