Karl Dedecius facts for kids
Karl Dedecius (born May 20, 1921 – died February 26, 2016) was a German translator. He was born in Łódź, Poland. He helped many people in Germany read amazing books from Poland and Russia.
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Life of Karl Dedecius
Early Years in Poland
Karl Dedecius was born in Łódź, Poland. His parents were German. At that time, Łódź was a city with many different cultures. It had recently become part of the Second Polish Republic. Karl went to a Polish high school there. He finished his studies at the Stefan-Żeromski High School.
World War II and Learning Russian
When World War II started, Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Karl Dedecius was called to join the German army. He was badly hurt during the Battle of Stalingrad. After that, he became a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union.
While he was a prisoner, Karl taught himself Russian. He said nurses brought him books by writers like Lermontov. He spent a year learning the Cyrillic Alphabet and Russian by reading books. He even became good enough that guards asked him to write love letters for them!
New Beginnings in West Germany
Karl Dedecius was set free in 1950. He first lived in Weimar, in East Germany. But in 1952, he moved to West Germany. He got a job at the Allianz AG insurance company.
In his free time, Karl loved to learn about Polish culture. He also started translating Polish books. He kept in touch with many Polish writers. He once said that he could only focus on literature once his life was stable. His job had nothing to do with writing, but his passion was translation.
Becoming a Famous Translator
In 1959, Karl published his first collection of translations. It was called Lektion der Stille (Lesson of Silence). Over the next years, he translated many famous Polish writers. These included Zbigniew Herbert, Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Czesław Miłosz, Tadeusz Różewicz, and Wisława Szymborska. He also wrote essays about literature and how to translate.
In 1980, Karl started the German Poland Institute in Darmstadt. He was the director of this institute until 1997. He continued his translation work while leading the institute.
His biggest achievements were two huge collections of books. One was the 50-volume "Polish Library" collection. It came out between 1982 and 2000. The other was the 7-volume "Panorama of Polish Literature of the 20th Century." The last book in this collection was like his own life story.
Karl Dedecius passed away in Frankfurt, Germany, on February 26, 2016. He was 94 years old.
Awards and Honors
Karl Dedecius received many special awards and honorary doctorates. These awards recognized his important work.
- In 1967, he won the Johann-Heinrich-Voß-Preis für Übersetzung.
- In 1990, he received the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels. This is a very important German peace prize.
- In 1997, he was given the Samuel-Bogumil-Linde-Preis.
Since 2004, there is even an award named after him! The Karl-Dedecius-Preis is given to translators. It comes with a prize of €10,000. The Robert Bosch Stiftung and the German Poland Institute give out this award.
Selected Works by Karl Dedecius
- 1971: Deutsche und Polen. Botschaft der Bücher. (Germans and Poles: The Diplomacy of Books) ISBN: 3-446-11481-5.
- 1974: "Überall ist Polen" (Poland is Everywhere) ISBN: 3-518-36695-5.
- 1975: Polnische Profile (Polish Profiles) ISBN: 3-518-02570-8.
- 1981: Zur Literatur und Kultur Polens (On the Literature and Culture of Poland) ISBN: 3-518-02571-6.
- 1981: Polnische Pointen Satiren und kleine Prosa des 20.Jahrhunderts (Polish Pointers: Satires and Short Prose of the 20th Century).
- 1986: Vom Übersetzen. Theorie und Praxis (On Translating: Theory and Practice) ISBN: 3-518-37758-2.
- 1988: Von Polens Poeten (On Poland’s Poets) ISBN: 3-518-37979-8.
- 1990: Lebenslauf aus Büchern und Blättern (A Life Story Made of Books and Pages) ISBN: 3-518-40309-5.
- 1996: Ost West Basar. Ansprachen Essays Würdigungen. (East-West Bazaar: Speeches, Essays, Tributes) ISBN: 3-250-10283-0.
- 2000: Panorama der polnischen Literatur des 20. Jahrhunderts. Abt.V. Panorama. Ein Rundblick (Panorama of Polish Literature of the 20th Century: Section V. Panorama.) ISBN: 3-250-50005-4.
- 2002: Die Kunst der Übersetzung (The Art of Translating) ISBN: 3-8325-0000-6.
- 2006: Ein Europäer aus Lodz : Erinnerungen (A European from Lodz: Memoirs) ISBN: 3-518-41756-8.
