Giovanni Pontiero

Giovanni Pontiero (10 February 1932 – 10 February 1996) was a British scholar of Italian descent and translator of Portuguese fiction.[1] Most notably, he translated the works of José Saramago and Clarice Lispector, two celebrated names in Portuguese-language literature.

Life

Born and raised in Glasgow, after secondary school Pontiero went into seminary at Biggar and later at Ramini, Italy, but at age 24 decided to abdicate from a religious career.[2] He graduated from the university of Glasgow in 1960 and completed his PhD while in Brazil at Universidade Federal de Paraíba, returning to Manchester to defend his thesis on Manuel Bandeira.[2] In 1962 he was appointed lecturer in Latin American studies at Manchester. He was later promoted to senior lecturer and finally Reader in Latin-American Literature in the Victoria University of Manchester until his retirement in 1995.[3]

Work

Holding an academic position and translating, he not only gave students advice, but wrote about the translating profession.[1] He was the principal translator into English of the works of both Saramago and Clarice Lispector, and met early acclaim for his translation of Lispector's short story "Amor",[4] winning the Camões Prize for Translation in 1968.[2] In 1993 he won The Independent's Foreign Fiction Award for the translation of Saramago's The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis[5] and the Outstanding Translation Award from the American Literary Translator's Association for the same author's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ[6] the following year; later receiving the Texeira-Gomes Prize for this same translation. He was amongst those to note Pandeism to be an influence on the writings of noted mid-twentieth-century Brazilian poet Carlos Nejar.[7]

Pontiero's papers are held by the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester.

Notable translations into English (publication dates for original followed by translation)

José Saramago
  • Baltasar and Blimunda 1982, 1987
  • The year of the Death of Ricardo Reis 1984, 1991
  • The Gospel According to Jesus Christ 1991, 1994
  • The Stone Raft 1986, 1994
  • The History of the Siege of Lisbon 1989, 1996
  • Blindness 1995, 1997

Clarice Lispector
  • Family Ties 1960, 1984
  • Near to the Wild Heart 1943, 1990 (2012)
  • The Hour of the Star 1977, 1992
  • Selected Cronicas 1967-1973, 1996
  • Discovering the World 1997
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References
  1. Orero, Pilar. Sager, Juan C. Pontiero, Giovanni. (1997). The translator's dialogue : Giovanni Pontiero. John Benjamins. ISBN 978-90-272-8353-5. OCLC 746920718.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Kinder, A. Gordon (1997), "Biographical note", Benjamins Translation Library, John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 161, ISBN 978-90-272-1627-4, retrieved 2020-03-10
  3. Griffin, Nigel (April 1996). "Memoir: Giovanni Pontiero (1932-1996)". Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. 73 (2): 205–209. doi:10.3828/bhs.73.2.205. ISSN 1475-3839.
  4. Lispector, Clarice. Laços de família : contos. OCLC 1011542.
  5. Saramago, Jose. Pontiero, Giovanni McConnohie, Michael (2016), The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis., Audible Studios on Brilliance audio, ISBN 978-1-5226-0277-4, OCLC 933523377, retrieved 2020-03-10CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Saramago, José. (1999). The year of the death of Ricardo Reis ; The gospel according to Jesus Christ ; Blindness. Quality Paperback Book Club. OCLC 41261975.
  7. Pontiero, Giovanni (January 1981). "Carlos Nejar. Poet of the Brazilian Pampas". Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. 15 (28): 42–43. doi:10.1080/08905768108594099. ISSN 0890-5762.
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