Reginald John "R. J." Hollingdale (20 October 1930 – 28 September 2001) was a British biographer and translator of German philosophy and literature, especially the works of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, E. T. A. Hoffmann, G. C. Lichtenberg, and

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...

Life and career

"Reg" Hollingdale dropped out of Bec Grammar School,

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

at the age of 16 in order become a journalist, working in a junior position for a

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

newspaper. He was called up to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

at a young age in the late 1940s, as part of his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, for two years before returning to journalism. After paying his way through private German lessons, and immersing himself in German literature and philosophy, Hollingdale earned the respect of readers and academics with his translations and studies of German cultural figures. Despite not possessing a degree, Hollingdale was elected president of a scholarly society, and was a visiting scholar at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

in 1991–1992. He also worked as a sub-editor at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and as a critic for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

''. Hollingdale was elected President of The Friedrich Nietzsche Society in 1989. Along with Walter Kaufmann, he was responsible for rehabilitating Nietzsche's reputation in the English-speaking world after 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 opposi ...

. Hollingdale was an atheist.

Partial bibliography

Original works

*''Nietzsche: The Man and his Philosophy'' (1965; 2nd rvd. edn., 2001) *''

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 novell ...

: A Critical Study'' (1973) *''A Nietzsche Reader'' (1978) *''Western Philosophy: An Introduction'' (1994)

Translations

*''Essays and Aphorisms'', selections from ''

Parerga and Paralipomena ''Parerga and Paralipomena'' (Greek for "Appendices" and "Omissions", respectively; german: Parerga und Paralipomena) is a collection of philosophical reflections by Arthur Schopenhauer published in 1851. The selection was compiled not as a summa ...

'', by Arthur Schopenhauer (1973) *''

Elective Affinities ''Elective Affinities'' (German: ''Die Wahlverwandtschaften''), also translated under the title ''Kindred by Choice'', is the third novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1809. Situated around the city of Weimar, the book relates the ...

'', by Goethe (1978) *''Tales of Hoffmann'', by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1982) *''Aphorisms'', by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1990) ; (Reprinted as ''The Waste Books'' 2000) As composed or published by Friedrich Nietzsche in chronological order: *'' The Untimely Meditations'' (1983) *'' Human, All-Too-Human: A Book for Free Spirits'' (1986) *'' Daybreak'' (1982) *'' Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One (1961).'' *''

Beyond Good and Evil ''Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future'' (german: Jenseits von Gut und Böse: Vorspiel einer Philosophie der Zukunft) is a book by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche that covers ideas in his previous work ''Thus Spoke Zarathu ...

: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future'' (1973) *'' On the Genealogy of Morals'' (with Walter Kaufmann) (1967) *''

Twilight of the Idols ''Twilight of the Idols, or, How to Philosophize with a Hammer'' (german: link=no, Götzen-Dämmerung, oder, Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert) is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche, written in 1888, and published in 1889. Genesis ''Twilight of th ...

'' / '' The Antichrist'' (1968) *'' Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is'' (1986) *'' The Will to Power'' (with Walter Kaufmann) (1967) *'' Dithyrambs of Dionysus'' (2001)

References

External links

*
Obituary in The Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollingdale, Reginald John English translators English biographers English atheists 1930 births 2001 deaths Writers from London People from Streatham 20th-century biographers 20th-century British translators Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of Friedrich Nietzsche