Manya Harari (née Manya Benenson) (8 April 1905 – 24 September 1969)P. J. V. Rolo
"Harari , Manya (1905–1969)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2011. was a British translator of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...

and the co-founder of

Harvill Press Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

. Her best-known work is the translation of

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...

's epic novel ''

Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

'', which she co-translated with

Max Hayward Harry Maxwell "Max" Hayward (28 July 1924, London – 18 March 1979, Oxford) was a British lecturer on and translator of Russian literature. He has been described as "the best and most prolific translator of Russian prose into English since Consta ...

. She also translated works by

Konstantin Paustovsky Konstantin Georgiyevich Paustovsky ( rus, Константи́н Гео́ргиевич Паусто́вский, p=pəʊˈstofskʲɪj; – 14 July 1968) was a Soviet writer nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1965. Early life ...

Andrey Sinyavsky Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (russian: Андре́й Дона́тович Синя́вский; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965. Sinyavsk ...

Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (russian: link=no, Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable autho ...

and Evgenia Ginzburg, among others.

Early life

Born in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, as the fourth child and youngest daughter of Jewish financier Grigori Benenson (1860–1939) and Sophie Goldberg (1862–1926), she migrated in 1914 with her family to London from Germany, where they had been visiting. She had three siblings, an older brother Jacob who died in a German concentration camp during the First World War, and two sisters,

Flora Solomon Flora Solomon, OBE (''née'' Benenson; 28 September 1895 – 18 July 1984) was an influential Zionist. The first woman hired to improve working conditions at Marks & Spencer in London, Solomon was later instrumental in the exposure of British s ...

and

Fira Benenson Fira Benenson (14 April 1898 – 23 October 1977) was a Russian-born American fashion designer and dressmaker. After growing up in Baku and Saint Petersburg, her family left Russia at the end of World War I and relocated in London. Benenson gre ...

(Countess Ilinska) who became a leading American dress designer.

Education

She was educated at Malvern Girls College and at

Bedford College, London file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874 Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...

, where she read history, graduating in 1924. In 1946 she co-founded the Harvill Press with Marjorie Villiers.

Selected books

Translations

* ''Involuntary Journey to Siberia'' by

Andrei Amalrik Andrei Alekseevich Amalrik (russian: Андре́й Алексе́евич Ама́льрик, 12 May 1938, Moscow – 12 November 1980, Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain), alternatively spelled ''Andrei'' or ''Andrey'', was a Russian writer ...

(co-translator: Max Hayward) * '' The Thaw'' by

* ''Into the Whirlwind'' by Evgenia Ginzburg (co-translator: Paul Stevenson) * ''The Demonstration in Pushkin Square'' by

Pavel Litvinov Pavel Mikhailovich Litvinov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Литви́нов; born 6 July 1940) is a Russian-born U.S. physicist, writer, teacher, human rights activist and former Soviet-era dissident. Biography The grandson of ...

* ''The Decline of Wisdom'' by

Gabriel Marcel Gabriel Honoré Marcel (7 December 1889 – 8 October 1973) was a French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused on the modern ...

* ''The Philosophy of Exisentialism'' by Gabriel Marcel * ''An Essay in Autobiography'' by

* ''Doctor Zhivago'' by Boris Pasternak (co-translator: Max Hayward) * ''The Blind Beauty: A Play'' by Boris Pasternak (co-translator: Max Hayward) * ''Story of a Life'' (6 volumes) by

* ''Unguarded Thoughts'' by

* ''The Makepeace Experiment'' by Abram Tertz

Autobiography

* ''Memoirs 1906-1969''

Personal life

In Paris in 1925 Manya Benenson married Ralph Andrew Harari (1893–1969), a merchant banker, art scholar and collector, son of Sir Victor Harari Pasha and Emma Aghion, leading members of Egypt's Anglo-Jewish community. They had met in Palestine earlier that year. They intitially lived in Cairo where Manya studied the poor living conditions. In 1932, she converted to Roman Catholicism. The couple later settled in London and were known their hospitality at their London home 32 Catherine Place, Westminster. The couple had one son, Michael Harari, born in England in 1928, who later became a psychiatrist. Manya Harari died on 24 September 1969 and was buried with her husband at

East Finchley Cemetery East Finchley Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium in East End Road, East Finchley. Although it is in the London Borough of Barnet, it is owned and managed by the City of Westminster.Russian–English translators 1905 births 1969 deaths 20th-century translators Alumni of Bedford College, London British book publishers (people) Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom