Translator of Jorge Icaza novels - Ecuadorian Literature

Paul Zech (February 19, 1881 — September 7, 1946) was a German Expressionist writer of the first half of the twentieth century. His German translation of Jorge Icaza’s famous novel “Huasipungo” was published after his death in 1952 as “Huasi-Pungo. Ruf der Indios,” (literally, Huasipungo. Cry of the Indians). Zech’s prolific literary output included essays, poetry, plays, and translation. In 1933, having garnered criticism and opposition from Germany’s far-right, he emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the fall of 1933, where he remained in exile from the Nazis until his death in 1946. Known primarily for his translations of classic French works, almost all of his longer works, including seven novels, remained unpublished during his lifetime. These posthumous works were instrumental in finally bringing him the recognition he so richly deserved.

Carlo Bo (Sestri Levante, Italy, January 25, 1911 – Genoa, July 21, 2001) was an Italian poet, literary critic, translator, and professor, as well as a Lifetime senator of Italy (since 1984). In 1949, Bo translated the Ecuadorian novel “Cholos” by Jorge Icaza into Italian as “I meticci,” (literally, The Mestizos). In an article titled “Calvino, Pavese, Icaza” published in La Hora newspaper in 2010, María Helena Barrera-Agarwal, wrote this about Bo: “He was a polyglot and man of extraordinary erudition, whose talent was perfectly reflected in the way in which he rendered Icaza’s work into Italian: his version, clean and true, retains the novel’s original qualities.” Among the other Spanish-language authors B0 translated into Italian are: Venezuela’s Rómulo Gallegos, Argentina’s Ricardo Güiraldes, and Spain’s Federico García Lorca and Miguel de Unamuno. Bo served as rector of the University of Urbino for over 50 years (from 1947 until his death in 2001 at the age of 90).