Gregory Rabassa facts for kids

Gregory Rabassa (born March 9, 1922 – died June 13, 2016) was an American translator. He was famous for translating books from Spanish and Portuguese into English. He taught for many years at Columbia University and Queens College.

Gregory Rabassa's Life and Career

Gregory Rabassa was born in Yonkers, New York. His family came from Cuba. During World War II, he worked as a cryptographer for the OSS. This means he helped decode secret messages.

After the war, he earned a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College. He then got his doctorate degree from Columbia University. He taught at Columbia for over 20 years. Later, he moved to Queens College, part of the City University of New York.

Rabassa translated many important books by famous Latin American authors. These included Julio Cortázar, Jorge Amado, and Gabriel García Márquez. García Márquez even waited three years for Rabassa to translate his book One Hundred Years of Solitude. García Márquez later said Rabassa's English translation was even better than his original Spanish version.

Rabassa received several awards for his amazing work. He won the PEN Translation Prize in 1977. In 1982, he received the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation. He also got the Gregory Kolovakos Award in 2001. This award recognized his efforts to bring Hispanic literature to English-speaking readers.

He worked very closely with Julio Cortázar. They both loved jazz music and playing with words. For his translation of Cortázar's novel Hopscotch, Rabassa shared the first-ever U.S. National Book Award for Translation.

Rabassa retired from Queens College as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. In 2006, he was given the National Medal of Arts. This is a very high honor for artists in the United States.

He also wrote a book about his experiences as a translator. It was called If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents, A Memoir. This book was named a "Favorite Book of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times in 2005.

How Gregory Rabassa Translated Books

Gregory Rabassa had a unique way of translating. Sometimes, he would translate a book without reading it all the way through first.

In an interview from 2006, Rabassa explained his method. He said he would "just let the text lead me along." He felt that the book already existed in English in his mind. He just needed to "pull it out."

He would create a first draft, writing the book as if the original author had written it in English. He believed that each author's unique style should come through in the translation.

Death of Gregory Rabassa

Gregory Rabassa passed away on June 13, 2016. He was 94 years old. He died at a hospice in Branford, Connecticut.

Selected Books Translated by Gregory Rabassa

Here are some of the many books Gregory Rabassa translated:

• Demetrio Aguilera Malta
  • Seven Serpents and Seven Moons, 1979 (original: Siete lunas y siete serpientes)
• Juan Benet
  • Return to Region
  • A Meditation
• Jorge Franco
  • Rosario Tijeras, 2004
• Julio Cortázar
  • Hopscotch 1966 (original: Rayuela) — Won the U.S. National Book Award for Translation
  • A Manual for Manuel, 1978 (original: Libro de Manuel)
  • 62: A Model Kit (original: 62: Modelo para armar)
• José Maria de Eça de Queirós
  • Saint Christopher
• Gabriel García Márquez
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude 1970 (original: Cien años de soledad)
  • The Autumn of the Patriarch 1976 (original: El otoño del patriarca), for which he received the Pen Translation Prize.
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold 1982 (original: Crónica de una muerte anunciada)
  • Leaf Storm (original: La hojarasca)
• Clarice Lispector
  • The Apple in the Dark 1967 (original: A maçã no escuro, 1961)
• Luis Rafael Sánchez
  • Macho Camacho's Beat 1983 (original: La guaracha del Macho Camacho)
• José Lezama Lima
  • Paradiso (original: Paradiso)
• Mario Vargas Llosa
  • Conversation in the Cathedral (original: Conversación en la Catedral)
• Machado de Assis
  • Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas (original: Memórias Póstumas de Bras Cubas)
  • Quincas Borba (original: Quincas Borba)
• António Lobo Antunes
  • Fado Alexandrino (original: Fado Alexandrino)
  • The Return of the Caravels (original: As Naus)
• Osman Lins
  • Avalovara (original: Avalovara)
• Jorge Amado
  • Captains of the Sands (original: Capitães da Areia)
• Ana Teresa Torres
  • Dona Ines vs. Oblivion (original: Doña Inés contra el olvido)

Honours and Awards

• 

  Commander of the Order of Merit, Portugal
• He was made a Commander of the Order of Merit in Portugal on November 12, 2011.

See also

In Spanish: Gregory Rabassa para niños