We have just been told that John Brownjohn died in January. He was a legendary figure in the world of translation. He translated more than 160 books, and won the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German translation three times and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize once. His tastes were eclectic: among many others, he translated Willy Brandt, Alain Claude Sulzer and Walter Moers. He also collaborated with the filmmaker Roman Polanski on a number of film scripts. For Bitter Lemon he provided extraordinary translations of The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr (which became a Netflix sensation) and Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano. He is sorely missed.
-
Francois Von Hurter
