:''The majority of material in this article has been sourced from the

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Michael Valentine Guybon Glenny (26 September 1927, London – 1 August 1990, Moscow) was a British lecturer in Russian studies and a 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 ...

into English.

Life

Glenny was born on 26 September 1927 in London, the only child of Arthur Glenny, an RAF officer, and Avice Noel (née Boyes), a South African ambulance driver in the Second World War. After preparatory school in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, he went to Radley College and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He obtained a second-class degree in Russian and French, graduating in 1951. During his stint with the military under National Service, he pursued postgraduate studies in Soviet studies at Oxford University.

Career

Military

Following his undergraduate studies, Glenny joined the

Royal Horse Guards The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. Raised in August 1650 at Newcastle upon Tyne and County Durham by Sir Arthur Haselrigge on the orders of Oliver Cr ...

for his national service. Ranked captain, he was posted to West Berlin in 1951. He considered a career in the military as well as in intelligence, but these did not come to fruition. He was discharged from the army in 1954 and came back to London. Glenny began his career in insurance. He then joined the Wedgwood company as a salesman and export manager. When the Wedgwood Room in the royal palace at Tsarskoye Selo was being restored in the 1960s, he was invited to the Soviet Union as an advisor.

Journalism

In 1964 Glenny joined '' The Observer'' in London to manage advertising and special projects. In 1966, the newspaper organised the ''Masada Exhibition'' at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

; he was the manager in charge of it.

Academic

Glenny was a lecturer in Russian language, literature and history at Birmingham University from 1972-75. Between 1975-77, he was a visiting lecturer at the Southern Illinois University where he collaborated with Herbert Marshall on the translation of Sergei Eisenstein's writings on drama theory. He worked at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

from 1977–84.

Literary

Glenny began working as a part-time translator during his stint with Wedgwood. Via the publisher

George Weidenfeld George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld, (13 September 1919 – 20 January 2016) was a British publisher, philanthropist, and newspaper columnist. He was also a lifelong Zionist and renowned as a master networker. He was on good terms with popes, ...

, his first published translations were from the German. However, translations from the Russian became the main focus of his life. Indeed, his speciality was the discovery and transmission of contemporary Russian literature that was unavailable to an English readership. His landmark translation of

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

's '' The Master and Margarita'' in 1967 established his fame. He followed up with several other Bulgakov novels. Glenny made several trips to the Soviet Union in his search for significant works for translation. An early work by

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...

''The First Circle'' came out in translation in 1968 by Michael Guybon; it was later revealed that this was the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of a trio of translators: Glenny, Max Hayward and

Manya Harari 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 ...

. His translation of Yuri Trifonov's ''The House on the Embankment'' was well received. He was instrumental in bringing to public attention the works of Russian émigré and exiled writers such as Georgy Vladimov,

Zinovy Zinik use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

, and Vasily Aksyonov. Glenny co-authored, with

Norman Stone Norman Stone (8 March 1941 – 19 June 2019) was a British historian and author. He was Professor of European History in the Department of International Relations at Bilkent University, having formerly been a professor at the University of ...

, an oral history of the experiences of Russian emigres, titled ''The Other Russia'', for which he also conducted many of the interviews. One of his most monumental works was the translation of Boris Yeltsin's memoirs, 100,000 words of text, which he accomplished in two months in 1990. Significant among his interests was theatre. Following the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

, Vladimir Gubaryev's play ''Sarcophagus'' came out in September 1986. Glenny obtained a copy of the script and translated it, and it was staged by the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

in 1987. Glenny's ''Five Plays from the Soviet Union'' came out in 1989. At the time of his death in Moscow in 1990, Glenny was researching the works of Soviet writers who had perished in the gulags, and was awaiting documents from the KGB.

Personal life/death

Glenny married Juliet Mary Crum in 1952 with whom he had a daughter and three sons (one of whom is Misha Glenny, a journalist, writer and broadcaster). The marriage ended in 1972. Glenny married Valery Forbes Hartley-Brewer in 1975. Glenny died on 1 August 1990 in Moscow after suffering a heart attack. He is interred at Paston, near North Walsham, Norfolk.

Select bibliography

Drama and theory

* * *

Memoir

* *

Literature

* * * * * * *

References

Citations

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glenny, Michael 1927 births 1990 deaths Writers from London Russian studies scholars Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Radley College Royal Horse Guards officers Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Bristol 20th-century British translators Military personnel from London