Mati Sirkel
Mati Sirkel (born October 12, 1949 in Paide ) is an Estonian literary translator and Germanist.
Life
Mati Sirkel attended school in Rakke and Tallinn . In 1966 he graduated from high school in the Estonian capital. From 1967 to 1972 Sirkel studied German and literary theory at the University of Tartu . 1972 to 1975 he worked as a research assistant for literary theory, 1975/76 as an employee of the Estonian Ministry of Culture and 1976 to 1979 as editor of the Perioodika publishing house . He has been a freelance translator since 1982. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, he turned against the communist regime.
From 1990 to 1995 Mati Sirkel was Vice President of the Estonian Writers' Union and from 1995 to 2004 its chairman. From 1993 to 1996 he was a board member of the European Writers' Congress (EWC).
Most important translations
Mati Sirkel is one of the most prominent literary translators into Estonian . His most famous translations from German are among others
Heinrich Böll : Group picture with lady , Irish diary
Thomas Bernhard : At the destination
Elias Canetti : Mass and power
Alfred Döblin : Berlin Alexanderplatz
Heimito von Doderer : The Strudlhofstiege or Melzer and the depth of the years
Günter Grass : The tin drum , the butt
Peter Handke : The Hour of true feeling , The left-handed woman
Wilhelm Hauff : Märchen
Hermann Hesse : Peter Camenzind , Der Steppenwolf
Franz Kafka : Amerika , Diaries
Robert Musil : The confusions of the pupil Törless , The man without qualities
Sten Nadolny : The discovery of slowness
Rainer Maria Rilke : Duino Elegies
He also translates from Dutch and Modern Greek .
Honors
In 2002 Mati Sirkel was awarded the Translation Prize of the Republic of Austria , and in 2005 the Austrian State Prize for Literary Translation . In 2007 he received the annual prize of the Estonian foundation Eesti Kultuurkapital for his translation of Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities . In 2009 he received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art and in 2013 the Friedrich Gundolf Prize of the German Academy for Language and Poetry .
Web links
- Literature by and about Mati Sirkel in the catalog of the German National Library
- CV (Tartu City Library)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sirkel, Mati |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian literary translator and Germanist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 12, 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paide |