Joan Mascaró, generally known as Juan (8 December 1897 – 19 March 1987) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. He used the Spanish spelling of his name (Juan) because the Catalan spelling (Joan) is the same as that of the female English name "Joan".

Biography

He was born in

Santa Margalida Santa Margalida () is a municipality with a population of 10,204 located in the northeast of the Spanish Balearic Island Majorca, Mallorca. The municipality includes three settlements, the main one being Santa Margalida, away from the coast. Two ...

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

to a farming family and took interest in spirituality at the early age of 13. Mascaró is responsible for one of the most popular

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

translations of the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

text ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

'' (1962), and of some of the major ''

Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

'' (1965). He also translated, from

Pāli Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Therav� ...

into English, a key

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

text, ''

Dhammapada The ''Dhammapada'' (; ) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures.See, for instance, Buswell (2003): "rank among the best known Buddhist texts" (p. 11); and, "on ...

'' (1973). His first work, '' Lamps of Fire'' (1958), was a collection of religious and spiritual wisdom from across the world; a selection from the book inspired the Beatles song " The Inner Light" (1968). Though his native tongue was Catalan, he translated into English. Mascaró's obituary in ''The New York Times'' said he had, "achieved the unique feat of translation from languages not his own (Sanskrit and Pali) into another language not at first his own (English)." His interest in religion started from the age of 13 when he studied a book on

occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

. After finding this spiritually misleading, he discovered an older English translation of the ''Bhagavad Gita''. This inspired him to study Sanskrit in order to gain a better understanding of the text, as the available translation was quite poor. Mascaró studied modern and oriental languages at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and spent some time lecturing on the Spanish Mystics. He then went to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

where he was Vice-Principal of Parameshwara College at

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

. Later, he became Professor of English at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

. He settled in England after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and there made his translations of the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and ''Upanishads'', as well as returning to Cambridge University, where he was a

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

of English and lectured on "Literary and Spiritual Values in the Authorized Version of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

." He was made ''doctor honoris causa'' by the

University of the Balearic Islands The University of the Balearic Islands (, UIB; ) is a Balearic Islands, Balearic Spain, Spanish university, founded in 1978 and located in Palma de Mallorca, Palma on the island of Majorca. The university is funded by the autonomous Government o ...

. He married Kathleen Ellis in 1951 and had a twin son and daughter. He died in 1987 at his home in

Comberton Comberton is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, just east of the Prime Meridian. History Archaeological finds, including a Neolithic polished stone axe (found to the south of the current village) and a Bronze Age ba ...

, Cambridge.Mascaró, Joan (1999). (retrieved 2018-01-22). Bayeux Arts. .

Bibliography

* '' Lamps of Fire''/''Lámparas de fuego'' (1958) . * ''

The Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, in ...

'' (1962) . * '' The Upanishads'' (1965) . * ''

'' (1973) * '' The Creation of Faith'' (1993) . * '' Himalayas of the Soul'' (1938) . * ''

A Star from the East, An Appreciation of Bhagavad Gita A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

'' (1954). * '' El ser y el amor (Ensayos sobre el Apocalipsis)'' (1973). * '' Cartes d'un mestre a un amic'' (1993) .

References

External links

Webpage devoted to Juan Mascaró at LletrA (UOC), Catalan Literature Online
(Catalan) * Margalida Munar

* Climent Picornell. Joan Mascaró i Fornés i The Beatles (o George Harrison) http://jcmllonja.balearweb.net/post/112757 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mascaro, Juan 1897 births 1987 deaths People from Mallorca Translators from Catalonia Translators from Hindi Translators from Pali Translators from Sanskrit Translators to English Academic staff of the Autonomous University of Barcelona Alumni of the University of Cambridge 20th-century Spanish translators People from Comberton