Berta French

Berta Franzos (also Bertha; born Ostersetzer, born October 9, 1850 in Brody , Austrian Empire , † August 23, 1932 in Baden near Vienna ) was an Austrian translator of books about Japan.

life and work

Berta Ostersetzer was a daughter of the businessman Leon Ostersetzer. In 1869 she married the lawyer Max Franzos (born July 5, 1826 in Brody, died July 31, 1893 in Vienna), who was related to the writer Karl Emil Franzos . He worked as chairman of the board of directors of the Steyrermühl paper mill . Her children were the translator Marie Franzos (1870–1941) and the lawyer Emil Franzos (1874–1928).

Berta Franzos was a translator and translated eight books from English into German by the writer Lafcadio Hearn , whose works made life in Japan known in Europe at the end of the 19th century and who inspired Japonism . She also translated a book on the Far East by Percival Lowell .

Little is known about their life. As early as 1981 DuMont-Verlag was no longer able to find the legal successor for their translation work; these copyrights only expired in 2003.

Translations

Franzos' translation of Lotos , illustration Orlik (1906)

Lafcadio Hearn: Kokoro. With a foreword by Hugo von Hofmannsthal . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik . Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening, 1905
Lafcadio Hearn: Lotos. Look into the unknown Japan . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik. Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening 1906
Lafcadio Hearn: Izumo. Look into the unknown Japan . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik. Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening, 1907
Lafcadio Hearn: Kwaidan. Strange stories and studies from Japan . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik. Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening, 1909
Lafcadio Hearn: Buddha. New stories and studies from Japan . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik. Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening, 1910
Lafcadio Hearn: Kyushu. Dreams and Studies from the New Japan . Translation Berta Franzos. Illustrations Emil Orlik. Frankfurt am Main: Rütten & Loening, 1908
Percival Lowell: The Soul of the Far East . Translation Berta Franzos. Jena: Eugen Diedrichs, 1911

literature

French, Berta. In: Lexicon of German-Jewish Authors . Volume 7: Feis – Frey. Edited by the Bibliographia Judaica archive. Saur, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-598-22687-X , pp. 333-334.
Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century . Volume 1: A-I. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , pp. 357f. (serial no.2760).
Giada Brighi: Marie Franzos , at UeLex, Germersheimer Translators Lexicon , 2017
Susanne Blumesberger: Vienna 1938 - The end of numerous careers. Using the example of the translator Marie Franzos (1870–1941). A project of the University Anniversary Foundation Vienna . In: Biblos. Contributions to books, library and writing, vol. 55 (2006), no . 2, pp. 148–149 ( PDF 774.3 KB on "Women in Movement 1848–1938" of the Austrian National Library )

Peter Pantzer : "If you don't love Hearn as much as I do ..." Berta Franzos and her translations of the Japanese books Lafcadio Hearns. In: Andreas Niehaus; Chantal Weber (Ed.): Travels, dialogues, encounters: Festschrift for Franziska Ehmcke . Lit, Münster 2012 ISBN 978-3-643-11778-6 pp. 149-162

Web links

Literature by and about Berta Franzos in the catalog of the German National Library
Literature by and about Berta Franzos in the bibliographic database WorldCat

Individual evidence

^ Giada Brighi: Berta Franzos. In: Germersheim Translator Lexicon. Retrieved January 10, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	French, Berta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Franzos, Bertha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian translator
DATE OF BIRTH	October 9, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brody (Ukraine)
DATE OF DEATH	August 23, 1932
Place of death	Baden near Vienna

[1] Giada Brighi: Berta Franzos. In: Germersheim Translator Lexicon. Retrieved January 10, 2019 .