Frederika Randall | |
---|---|
![]() Randall c. 1986–1987 | |
Born | 1948 |
Died | 12 May 2020 | (aged 71–72)
Citizenship | United States, Italy |
Occupation(s) | Translator, journalist |
Frederika Randall (1948 – 12 May 2020) was an American-Italian translator and journalist. Born in western Pennsylvania, she expatriated to Italy in 1985 at the age of 37. As a journalist, she wrote in both English and Italian for publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Internazionale ; from 2000 until her death, she was the Rome correspondent to The Nation. A prolific translator, her works included Confessions of an Italian, considered one of the most important Italian novels of the 19th century.
Randall was born in 1948, in a town "downstream from Pittsburgh on the Ohio River". [1] She attended Harvard University, where she graduated with a B.A. in English literature in 1970, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she attained an M.A. in urban planning working towards a Ph.D., which was left at the all but dissertation level. For a short period, she worked as an urban planner. [2] [3]
Randall was the Rome correspondent for The Nation, where she was described as "an acute chronicler of the postwar death spiral of Italian democracy". [4] She was an outspoken critic of Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini. [5] [6] In addition to her work at The Nation, Randall was a freelance writer for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Internazionale. [7]
Randall shifted her focus from journalism to translation in 2002, after she was catastrophically injured jumping from a third-story balcony; the disabilities she suffered as a result of the fall impaired her ability to work in the journalistic field. [8] She was "enormously admired" by her peers in Italian-to-English translation, [7] and translated seminal works such as Confessions of an Italian. Randall's translation of Confessions of an Italian, the first unabridged English version, was highly praised. [9] [10] She acquired a reputation for successful translations of works previously labelled "untranslatable", such as Deliver Us ( Libera nos a Malo ) by Luigi Meneghello. [11] [12]
Randall was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Prize in 2009 and shortlisted for the Italian Prose in Translation Award in 2017. [13] She would later be posthumously awarded the 2020 Italian Prose in Translation Award for I Am God. [14]
Randall moved to Rome from the United States in 1985. [8] She identified as a " dispatriate", intentionally distancing herself from her nation of origin. [7] She was married to an Italian national and had one son, the biologist Tommaso Jucker. [15]
Frederika Randall | |
---|---|
![]() Randall c. 1986–1987 | |
Born | 1948 |
Died | 12 May 2020 | (aged 71–72)
Citizenship | United States, Italy |
Occupation(s) | Translator, journalist |
Frederika Randall (1948 – 12 May 2020) was an American-Italian translator and journalist. Born in western Pennsylvania, she expatriated to Italy in 1985 at the age of 37. As a journalist, she wrote in both English and Italian for publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Internazionale ; from 2000 until her death, she was the Rome correspondent to The Nation. A prolific translator, her works included Confessions of an Italian, considered one of the most important Italian novels of the 19th century.
Randall was born in 1948, in a town "downstream from Pittsburgh on the Ohio River". [1] She attended Harvard University, where she graduated with a B.A. in English literature in 1970, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she attained an M.A. in urban planning working towards a Ph.D., which was left at the all but dissertation level. For a short period, she worked as an urban planner. [2] [3]
Randall was the Rome correspondent for The Nation, where she was described as "an acute chronicler of the postwar death spiral of Italian democracy". [4] She was an outspoken critic of Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini. [5] [6] In addition to her work at The Nation, Randall was a freelance writer for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Internazionale. [7]
Randall shifted her focus from journalism to translation in 2002, after she was catastrophically injured jumping from a third-story balcony; the disabilities she suffered as a result of the fall impaired her ability to work in the journalistic field. [8] She was "enormously admired" by her peers in Italian-to-English translation, [7] and translated seminal works such as Confessions of an Italian. Randall's translation of Confessions of an Italian, the first unabridged English version, was highly praised. [9] [10] She acquired a reputation for successful translations of works previously labelled "untranslatable", such as Deliver Us ( Libera nos a Malo ) by Luigi Meneghello. [11] [12]
Randall was awarded a PEN/Heim Translation Prize in 2009 and shortlisted for the Italian Prose in Translation Award in 2017. [13] She would later be posthumously awarded the 2020 Italian Prose in Translation Award for I Am God. [14]
Randall moved to Rome from the United States in 1985. [8] She identified as a " dispatriate", intentionally distancing herself from her nation of origin. [7] She was married to an Italian national and had one son, the biologist Tommaso Jucker. [15]