Marie (Mary) Donald Hottinger, née ''Mackie'' (20 June 1893,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

– 6 December 1978, Zurich), was a Scottish

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

and editor. In the

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

world she is primarily known as the editor of various anthologies of

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

and horror stories and translating non-fiction '' Escape to Life.'' Her three-volume standard work with the titles ''Mord'' , ''Mehr Morde'' and ''Even more Morde'', has been reprinted often since the end of the 1950s, brought the Anglo-Saxon crime story and compilation of stories to a literary art form.

Life

Marie Mackie's parents,

Customs Officer A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...

John Lindsay Mackie and his wife Louise Donald, were from

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland; her older brother Norman Lindsay Mackie (1891-1915) died in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

. From 1912 to 1915 Marie Mackie studied French and German at

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

, Cambridge; She received her MA there in 1922. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she was employed as a translator in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

from 1915 to 1917, then until 1919 as a private secretary in the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. From 1924 to 1926 she taught French at Bedford College of the University of London. On 24 December 1926 she married the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Markus Heinrich Hottinger (born 10 March 1899 in

Richterswil Richterswil (Swiss German: ''Richtischwiil'' ) is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Richterswil is first mentioned in 1265 as ''Richtliswile''. During the 17th Century, a series of peasan ...

, died on 29 August 1982 in Zurich). The two had a daughter (Elspeth Donald Fässler, née Hottinger, born 21 April 1930 in Zurich; died 24 March 2004 in Zurich) and they lived in Zurich. Mary Hottinger worked as a lecturer in English language 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 ...

. Her first translation into English was published in 1926, a French

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

biography by

Henry Prunières Henry Prunières (24 May 1886, in Paris – 11 April 1942, in Nanterre) was a French musicologist, and international proponent of contemporary art in various forms, including music, dance and painting. He occupies an important place in the art wor ...

. Then she switched to translations of German-speaking, mostly Swiss authors such as

Gottfried Keller Gottfried Keller (19 July 1819 – 15 July 1890) was a Swiss poet and writer of German literature. Best known for his novel '' Green Henry'' (German: ''Der grüne Heinrich'') and his cycle of novellas called ''The People from Seldwyla'' (''Die Leu ...

Heinrich Wölfflin Heinrich Wölfflin (; 21 June 1864 – 19 July 1945) was a Swiss art historian, esthetician and educator, whose objective classifying principles ("painterly" vs. "linear" and the like) were influential in the development of formal analysis in a ...

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history. Sigfri ...

and

Emil Brunner Heinrich Emil Brunner (1889–1966) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Along with Karl Barth, he is commonly associated with neo-orthodoxy or the dialectical theology movement. Biography Brunner was born on 23 December 1889 in Winterthur, in th ...

. She wrote articles on English topics for the publications ''Neue Schweizer Rundschau'' and the ''Schweizer Annalen''. She became acquainted with the Mann family in the 1930s: she translated lectures into English for

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

and practiced with him before his first lecture tour through the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and she translated the non-fiction book '' Escape to Life'' for siblings Erika and

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann, with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship, and Golo ...

as ''German Culture in Exile'' (1939) into English. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she worked as a spokesperson for English-language programs for the regional broadcaster ''

Beromünster Beromünster is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipality of Schwarzenbach merged into the municipality of Beromünster.Swiss Neutrality Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external ...

. After the Second World War, she was initially a lecturer in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the Adult Education Center in Zurich, before concentrating on her work as an editor of anthologies from 1950, especially for the ''

Diogenes Verlag The Diogenes Verlag (short: Diogenes) is a Swiss publisher in Zurich, founded in 1952 by , with a focus on literature, plays and cartoons. It has been managed since 2012 by the founder's son, Philipp Keel. History Daniel Keel, who founded the ...

'' Zurich. In July 1957 she also gave English courses on Swiss radio. She died on 6 December 1978.

Works (selection)

Mary Hottinger has published numerous anthologies in Diogenes Verlag, Zurich. Many of her collections of stories were illustrated by

Paul Flora Paul Flora (6 June 1922 – 15 May 2009) was an Austrian caricaturist, graphic artist, and illustrator, known for his black ink line drawings. "Flora was one of Europe's most profiled illustrators since the 1960s. He worked for British newspapers ...

: * Standard work: ''Murder. Anglo-Saxon crime stories from Edgar Allan Poe to Agatha Christie'' , Zurich 1959, in which she defends the murder story genre * ''Mehr Murder'' , 14th edition 1961, * ''Even more murders'' ,1967 and 2000 new edition, * ''The best English ghost stories'' (also under the title: ''Ghosts. English ghost stories from Daniel Defoe to Elizabeth Bowen'' ). Diogenes-Verlag, Zurich 1956. * ''More ghosts. The best ghost stories from England, Scotland and Ireland'' . Diogenes-Verlag, Zurich 1978, * Six volumes with the title: ''The Connoisseur'' 1960s * ''Family stories. For the literary lover'' , 1964 * ''Real murders. The Most Famous Criminal Cases and Trials from England'' , 1976, * ''The mockingbird. Fourteen short stories and twelve fantastic fables'' , new edition 1993,

External links

* Literature by and about Mary Hottinger in the catalog of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hottinger, Mary Scottish translators Scottish editors 1893 births 1978 deaths Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Swiss women writers People from Liverpool Ghost story writers Scottish horror writers Bedford College, London Academic staff of the University of Zurich English-language writers German writers