David Magarshack (23 December 1899 – 26 October 1977) was a British

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 biographer of Russian authors, best remembered for his translations of

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

and

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

Biography

Magarshack was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, in present-day Latvia, at the time part of the Russian Empire. In 1920, he moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in order to study. After graduating from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

with a degree in English Language and Literature in 1924, Magarshack attempted to make a career out of journalism, and then out of writing crime fiction, neither of which were successful. He gained British citizenship by naturalisation in 1931. In early 1949, Magarshack was approached by

E.V. Rieu Emile Victor Rieu CBE (10 February 1887 – 11 May 1972) was a British classicist, publisher, poet and translator. He initiated the Penguin Classics series of books in 1946 and edited it for twenty years. Biography Rieu was born in London, the y ...

, the editor of the

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

series, in order to translate

's ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

''. Magarshack accepted the job for an advance of £200 and royalties of seven-and-a-half percent. Over the next 13 years, Magarshack went on to become one of the most prolific contributors to the Classics series. His last translation for the series,

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's '' Lady with Lapdog and Other Stories'', was published in 1964, after which Magarshack ceased translation for the series due to the new series editor's preference for more scholarly translations. Magarshack's translation work was assisted by his wife Elsie, a Yorkshire-born, Cambridge-graduate of English. Magarshack's daughter, Stella, has stated that Elsie helped Magarshack with all his translations and proofreading work. Magarshack wrote a series of biographies of Russian writers. His biography of Dostoyevsky was savagely critiqued by Joseph Frank who wrote: "It is difficult to give any connected account of Mr. Magarshack’s interpretation of Dostoevsky because, to tell the truth, no such interpretation exists". Magarshack continued to translate both contemporary and classic Russian literature. In addition, Magarshack wrote extensively on translation theory, though most of this work would remain unpublished. Magarshack died in London in 1977.

Legacy

Collections of Magarshack's writings, as well as his personal and professional correspondences, are held at the Leeds Russian Archive at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, as well as the Penguin archive at the

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

. The novelist

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

paid the tribute: "David Magarshack has revolutionized the reading of Dostoyevsky’s novels in English by his translations which have appeared during the last few years … for years I was rather an anti-Dostoyevsky man, owing to the badness of the translations, but now there is an excellent translator in Magarshack". (''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', 2 April 1958)’. The Nobel laureate

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

has identified Magarshack's translations as a significant influence on his writing style. In a 2005 interview with the British Council in Poland, Ishiguro stated:

Selected works

A more complete list of Magarshack's work can be found in Appendix 2 of McAteer (2017).

Translations

* ''

'',

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

(1951). * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'',

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

(1952). * ''The Devils'', Dostoevsky (1953, see ''

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

''). * ''

Oblomov ''Oblomov'' ( ru , link=no, Обломов; ) is the second novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is the central character of the novel, portrayed as the ultimate incarnation of the superfluous man, ...

'',

Ivan Goncharov Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (, also ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his ...

(1954). * ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Идиот, Idiót) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–69. The title is an ...

'', Dostoevsky (1955). * ''

The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...

'', Dostoevsky (1958). * ''

Dead Souls ''Dead Souls'' (russian: «Мёртвые души», ''Mjórtvyje dúshi'') is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adv ...

'', Nikolai Gogol (1961). * ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...

'',

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

(1961).

Biographies

* ''Stanislavskii, a Life'' (1950). * ''Chekhov, a Life'' (1952). * ''Turgenev, a Life'' (1954). * ''Chekhov, The Dramatist'' (1955). * ''Gogol, a Life'' (1957). * ''Dostoyevsky'' (1962). * ''Pushkin: a Biography'' (1967).

Fiction

* ''Big Ben Strikes Eleven, A Murder Story for Grown-Up People'' (1934). * ''Death Cuts a Caper'' (1935). * ''Three Dead'' (1936).LRA/MS1397, item 375440

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

The Magarshack Collection at the Leeds Russian Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magarshack, David 1899 births 1977 deaths 20th-century biographers 20th-century British novelists Alumni of University College London British biographers British male novelists British people of Latvian-Jewish descent Latvian emigrants to the United Kingdom Latvian Jews Writers from Riga People from the Governorate of Livonia Russian–English translators Translators of Fyodor Dostoyevsky 20th-century British translators Male biographers