Ilma Rakusa (born 2 January 1946) is a Swiss writer and translator. She translates French, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian into German.

Biography

Ilma Rakusa was born in 1946 in

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; hu, Rimaszombat, german: Großsteffelsdorf) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishont ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

to a Slovenian father and a Hungarian mother. She spent her early childhood in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

. In 1951, her family moved to

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Ilma Rakusa attended the

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (' ...

and the Gymnasium in

. After the

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

, she studied Slavic and Romance Languages and Literature in Zürich,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

between 1965 and 1971. In 1971, she was awarded a doctorate for her thesis titled ''Studien zum Motiv der Einsamkeit in der russischen Literatur'', about themes of

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...

in Russian literature. From 1971 to 1977, she was a

Wissenschaftlicher Assistent Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, often shortened to Assistent, literally "scientific assistant", is an academic position at German universities for researchers with doctoral degrees and additional academic qualifications, who are typically employed t ...

at the Slavic Seminar at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

(UZH). From 1977 to 2006, she worked at UZH as a . In 1977, Rakusa authored her first book, a collection of poems titled ''Wie Winter''. She has since published numerous collections of poems, collected short stories and essays. Rakusa works as a translator from French, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian into German. She has translated works by authors including the French novelist

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

, the Russian writer

Aleksey Remizov Aleksey Mikhailovich Remizov (russian: Алексе́й Миха́йлович Ре́мизов; in Moscow – 26 November 1957 in Paris) was a Russian modernist writer whose creative imagination veered to the fantastic and bizarre. Apart from ...

, the Hungarian author

Imre Kertész Imre Kertész (; 9 November 192931 March 2016) was a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". He was ...

, the Russian poet

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

and the Serbo-Croatian

Danilo Kiš Danilo Kiš (; born Dániel Kiss; 22 February 1935 – 15 October 1989) was a Yugoslav novelist, short story writer, essayist and translator. His best known works include ''Hourglass'', ''A Tomb for Boris Davidovich'' and '' The Encyclopedia of ...

. Rakusa also works as a journalist (''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

'' and ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

''). Rakusa's novel ''Mehr Meer'' (2009) has been translated into many languages and received the

Swiss Book Prize The Swiss Book Prize (german: link=no, Schweizer Buchpreis) is a literary award awarded annually by a jury on behalf of the Swiss Booksellers' Association. The prize amount is CHF 30,000. The award was instituted in 2008 following the example of ...

in 2009. Rakusa has been a member of the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...

since 1996 and the jury of the . In 2010/2011, she was a fellow at the

Berlin Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...

. Today, Ilma Rakusa lives as a freelance writer in Zürich.

Awards and honors

* 1987: of the * 1991: Petrarca translation award * 1995: Swiss Writer-in-residence Max Kade Institute at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

* 1998:

Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding The City of Leipzig awards the Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding () which has been given since 1994. The award is endowed with prize money of 20,000 Euro and is presented every year during the official opening of Leipzig Book Fair. Rec ...

(Commendation Award) * 1998: * 2003: * 2003:

Adelbert von Chamisso Prize The Adelbert von Chamisso Prize (German ''Adelbert-von-Chamisso-Preis'') was a German literary award established in 1985, given to a work whose author's mother tongue is not German, as was the case for Adelbert von Chamisso. It was offered by the Ro ...

* 2004: Johann-Jakob-Bodmer-Medaille der Stadt Zürich * 2005: Vilenica International Literary Prize * 2005 by the Mitteleuropazentrum of the

Technical University of Dresden TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

and the

Sächsische Akademie der Künste The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cultural organisation for the state of Saxony, based in Dresden. Purpose The Academy is a statutory corporation to promote the arts in Saxony, make proposals for its prom ...

* 2009:

for ''Mehr Meer. Erinnerungspassagen.'' * 2010/2011: Fellow at the

* 2015: * 2017: * 2019:

Kleist Prize The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Re ...

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (Afterword by

Kathrin Röggla Kathrin Röggla (born 1971) is an Austrian writer, essayist and playwright. She was born in Salzburg, and lives in Berlin since 1992. She has written numerous prose works, including essays, dramas and radio plays. She has won a long range of award ...

) * * * * * * * * *

As editor

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Translations into German

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rakusa, Ilma 1946 births Living people 20th-century Swiss journalists 21st-century Swiss journalists 20th-century Swiss non-fiction writers 21st-century Swiss non-fiction writers 20th-century Swiss novelists 21st-century Swiss novelists 20th-century Swiss poets 21st-century Swiss poets 20th-century translators 21st-century translators Kleist Prize winners People from Rimavská Sobota Swiss Book Prize winners Swiss essayists Swiss people of Hungarian descent Swiss people of Slovenian descent Swiss translators Swiss women journalists Swiss women non-fiction writers Swiss women novelists Swiss women poets Swiss women short story writers Translators to German Translators from French Translators from Hungarian Translators from Russian Translators from Serbian University of Zurich faculty Swiss women essayists Writers from Zürich Literary translators