Edith Grossman, eminent translator of Spanish literature, dies at 87
She made the marvels of Cervantes and Gabriel García Márquez available to English readers.
Edith Grossman died Sept. 4 at her home in Manhattan. She was 87.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said her stepson, Kory Grossman.
In the realm of literature, translators have traditionally been relegated to the shadows as “humble, anonymous handmaidens-and men,” in Dr. Grossman’s description, toiling in the service of writers regarded as immortal greats.
Dr. Grossman, one of the foremost practitioners of her profession, was content to play no such role. Taking on such works as “Don Quixote,” she insisted that her name appear on the cover alongside the author’s — Miguel de Cervantes, in the case of that 17th-century landmark of Western literature — and trumpeted the central role of translators in the world of letters.
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