Richard Winston (1917 – December 22, 1979) andClara Brussel Winston (1921 – November 7, 1983), were prominent American translators of German works into English.[1]
Richard and Clara were both born in New York and went toBrooklyn College.[1][2] Richard and Clara began translating together in the late 1930s, working with the many German exiles in New York.[3][4]
The Winstons translated over 150 books as well as many other works, and they received a number of awards for their translations. In 1978, they won the American Book Award forUwe George'sIn the Deserts of This Earth.[4] In 1972 then won thePEN Translation Prize for their translation ofLetters ofThomas Mann.[5] Their best known translations included the works ofThomas Mann,Franz Kafka,Hannah Arendt,Albert Speer,Hermann Hesse, andRolf Hochhuth, among others.[4]
In Richard's 1980 obituary inThe New York Times, Clara described translation an interpretative art which relies on intuition. They could be "devoutly faithful" to some writers, but "helped [...] along" writers whom they considered less skilled, using their own discretion.[1] The Winstons moved to a farm in Vermont in 1943, where they did their translation work.[6]
The couple's archival papers are housed at Brooklyn College.[7] Their daughterKrishna Winston is also a translator.[8]
Both also wrote works of their own. Richard authoredCharlemagne: From the Hammer to the Cross (1954) andThomas Becket (1967), and Clara wrote the novelsThe Closest Kin There Is (1952),The Hours Together (1962), andPainting for the Show (1969). Together, they also wroteNotre-Dame De Paris (1971).[9]