Mikhail Leonidovich Lozinsky (russian: Михаил Леонидович Лозинский; 20 July 1886 – 31 January 1955) is deemed to be the most accomplished Russian translator of the 20th century. "In the difficult and noble art of translation," said Anna Akhmatova, "Lozinsky was for the twentieth century what Zhukovsky was for the nineteenth."Anna Akhmatova. ''My Half-Century''. Northwestern University Press, 1997. . Page 74. Lozinsky was born in Gatchina and spent his life in St. Petersburg. His uncle was married to an aunt of Alexander Blok, who was one of the first to appreciate Lozinsky's highly polished verse. During the

Silver Age of Russian Poetry Silver Age (Сере́бряный век) is a term traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the last decade of the 19th century and first two or three decades of the 20th century. It was an exceptionally creative period in the history of ...

he was close to the

Acmeist Acmeism, or the Guild of Poets, was a transient poetic school, which emerged in 1912 in Russia under the leadership of Nikolay Gumilev and Sergei Gorodetsky. Their ideals were compactness of form and clarity of expression. The term was coined after ...

circle of Nikolay Gumilyov; he was briefly arrested and interrogated following the latter's execution. Despite his impeccable craftsmanship, Lozinsky's poetry failed to attract public attention owing to its lack of substance and originality. Lozinsky therefore began applying his literary skills to the translation of works by notable non-Russian literary figures such as

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

, and others. In his diary, Blok noted that some of Lozinsky's translations were superior to those of Zhukovsky, who had been regarded as a model for Russian verse translators for generations. Lozinsky's greatest feat was his translation of Dante's ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

'' which he completed between 1939 and 1945 in spite of poor health. This accomplishment won him the Stalin Prize in 1946. Lozinsky's copious translations of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

have been somewhat less popular than contemporary translations by

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 ...

and

Samuil Marshak Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Marchak) (russian: link=no, Самуил Яковлевич Маршак; 4 July 1964) was a Russian and Soviet writer of Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. ...

. Unlike them, Lozinsky did not strive to modernise Shakespeare by stripping him of obscure details and puns. Soviet critics tended to dismiss his Shakespeare translations as "obscure, heavy, and unintelligible"; Akhmatova, however, felt that Lozinsky brilliantly achieved his aim of "conveying the age of Shakespeare's language and the complexity about which even the English complain". Lozinsky's granddaughters include writers

Tatyana Tolstaya Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya (russian: Татьяна Никитична Толстая; born May 3, 1951) is a Russian writer, TV host, publicist, novelist, and essayist from the Tolstoy family. Family Tolstaya was born in Leningrad into a f ...

and

Natalia Tolstaya Natalia Nikitichna Tolstaya (russian: Наталья Никитична Толстая; May 2, 1943, Yelabuga, Tatar ASSR – June 15, 2010, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian writer and translator from the Tolstoy family. She was a granddaughter of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lozinsky, Mikhail Leonidovich 1886 births 1955 deaths People from Gatchina People from Tsarskoselsky Uyezd Russian male poets Translators from Italian Translators of Dante Alighieri Translators of William Shakespeare 20th-century Russian translators Soviet poets Soviet translators