Margot Bettauer Dembo
Margot Bettauer Dembo (10 January 1928 – 10 July 2019) was a German-born American translator of fiction and non-fiction. She translated writing from German to English, and is known for her translations of works by Judith Hermann, Robert Gernhardt, Joachim Fest, Ödön von Horvath, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Hermann Kant. Her work won the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize and the Goethe-Institut/Berlin Translator's Prize. She translated multiple non-fiction memoirs and historical accounts of World War II, as well as several works of fiction.
Career
Dembo worked as a freelance editor and translator of works from German to English.[1] Her editorial work included editing publications for W.W. Norton and the American Museum of Natural History.[1]
As a translator, Dembo initially focused on works written in and about World War II, in German, especially non-fiction works and memoirs of the Holocaust. These included
Dembo translated writer Judith Hermann's debut book of stories, Sommerhaus, Später, work that won her the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize in 2003.[7]
Biography
Dembo was born in Mannheim, Germany on 10 January 1928. Her family emigrated to the United States of America, and she lived in Toms River, in New Jersey, later moving to Ancramdale in New York state.[1] She died on 10 July 2019, in New York.[1]
Awards and honors
- 2003 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize for translating to English Judith Hermann's Summerhouse, later (Sommerhaus, Später)[7]
- 1994 Goethe-Institut/Berlin Translator's Prize[4]
Bibliography
Translations from German to English:
- (1998) ISBN 9-780-47116-3657
- (1999) ISBN 0-810-11504-2
- (2002) ISBN 0-060-00686-2
- (2003) ISBN 9-780-38533-7403
- (2004) ISBN 0-374-13577-0
- (2005) ISBN 0-151-00932-5
- (2013) ISBN 9-781-59017-6252
- (2018) ISBN 9-781-68137-2129
- (2021) ISBN 9-781-68137-5359
References
- ^ a b c d e f Perlmutter, Barbara. "A Tribute to Margot Bettauer Dembo". New Books in German. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ TRIUMPH OF HOPE | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ AFTERTIME | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ a b "Margot Bettauer Dembo". New York Review Books. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "Margot Bettauer Dembo". Granta. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "Margot Bettauer Dembo | No Man's Land". www.no-mans-land.org. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ a b "Past Prizewinners". www.goethe.de. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
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