International Translation Day falls on September 30 each year, but translators should be celebrated year round for what they contribute to how literature becomes a common thread between cultures.

Here are five women translators of the past whose work was groundbreaking, contributing to gender equality, education for all, abolitionism and scientific knowledge across borders and languages. Read More→

It’s striking that two daughters of Karl Marx, Laura and Eleanor, became important early translators of his work. Marx (1818 – 1883), the German-born social and economic theorist and philosopher, is best known for The Communist Manifesto (co-authored by Friedrich Engels) and Das Kapital.

Laura Marx (1845 – 1911) was the second daughter of Karl Marx and Jenny von Westphalen was instrumental in translating Marx’s works from German into French. Her sister Eleanor Marx (1855-1898), the youngest daughter in the Marx family, was involved in translation from German into English. Read More→

Presented here are ten trailblazing women translators whose work proved groundbreaking, from the 16th to 20th centuries.

After being entirely forgotten or reduced to half a line in their husbands’ entries in many encyclopedias, women translators are now starting to be recognized in their own right. Shown at right, translator Matilda Mary Hays (standing) and a love interest, actress Charlotte Cushman, 1858.

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