Lev Ginzburg was an outstanding Soviet translator and publicist. Having gone through the horrors of World War II, he tells in his books about the pain that an entire generation had to endure. But his main activity was the translation of works from German into Russian.
Biography
Lev Vladimirovich Ginzburg was born on October 24, 1921 in Moscow. His family was rather ordinary for the Soviet intelligentsia, his father worked as a lawyer. Lev Vladimirovich, as a child, attended classes at a literary studio at the House of Pioneers, whose teacher was Mikhail Svetlov, a Soviet poet and playwright, journalist and war correspondent. While still at school, he intensively studied German. Having reached the age of eighteen, he entered the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History. N. G. Chernyshevsky. However, he was taken into the army almost immediately after entering the army, where he had to serve for more than six years on the Far Eastern Front. There, his poems were published in front-line and military newspapers.
Years later entered andIn 1950 he graduated from the philological faculty of Moscow State University. His first translated and published work was from the Armenian language, which was published in 1952. Later he was engaged in translations only of German literature. Many works of German writers translated by Lev Ginzburg date back to the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. He was interested in books telling about the times of the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1638, the folklore of the inhabitants of Germany and the poets of those times. He was the man who breathed life into old manuscripts. The biography of Lev Ginzburg states that he died after the operation, being in poor condition. After anesthesia, he was not destined to wake up, and on September 17, 1980, the famous Soviet translator died.
Contradictory views on the German people of different times
Lev Vladimirovich, who studied German from an early age and wrote poetry, was extremely controversial in his literary tastes, as it seemed at first glance. After all, given that he wrote books on anti-fascist topics, filled with bitterness and resentment for the deeds of Hitler and his associates, then, in contrast to this, with what trepidation he treated the works of the Middle Ages of old Germany and later times, up to the 18th century.
That depressing feeling that causes a heavy aftertaste in any person accompanies Ginzburg throughout his entire prose. In his books, he seeks to convey the atmosphere of relations between people during the war and believes that the bitterness of what he experienced will never be washed away by time. This isforever imprinted in the memory of many people. And on the contrary, translating the texts of German poets and writers, with the inherent lyrics and drama of those times, Lev Vladimirovich seems to be re-living their life together with the authors. This was the philosophy of his attitude to the very concept of translations and the personality of a person.
It can be assumed that Lev Ginzburg wanted to reveal the essence of one and the same nation with his work. Show that every person has beautiful and terrible features. This formula applies to entire nations as well.
Translations
Most of the works he translated from German, Old German and Latin are considered the best to this day. Lev Vladimirovich masterfully mastered the word. With the ease of a virtuoso, he moved in time to the deep past, when these ancient texts were written. His translations are highly regarded both in Russia and Germany.
The creative approach to translations by Lev Vladimirovich often meant an increase in the volume of texts. For example, the text of Parsifal was at least doubled in length. And the "Death Fugue" by Paul Celan in the original consists of 30 lines, while Ginzburg translated it into Russian with more than a hundred lines. Among his works are "German Folk Ballads" and the famous "Vagan Lyrics", poems by German poets, poetry and many other works.
Carmina Burana
Or, as it is translated, Codex Buranus - an illuminated manuscript in Latin in the form of a collection of poems and songs. This collection containssongs on various topics: edifying, drinking, instructive, satirical, love and liturgical dramas.
One of the largest collections of works of medieval vagans and goliards interested Lev Ginzburg. The translation of this work is still considered one of the closest to the original. It sounds great in many languages.
David Tukhmanov wrote an album, including one of the songs translated by Lev Ginzburg, called "From the Vagans", or as we used to call it "Student's Song", "In the French Side …", or simply "Student".
Anti-fascist journalism
In adulthood, translator Lev Ginzburg, in addition to working with old texts, was also engaged in journalism. He devoted his works to the theme of bloody and oppressive fascism, which turned out to be closely connected with the fate of the Russian people. Drawing a parallel between fascism and communism, Lev Ginzburg argued in his books on the subject of cowardice, narrow-mindedness of peoples under the yoke of totalitarian states. And on the contrary, revelations and repentance for involvement in the events that took place. For what I had to see with my own eyes and pass through my heart, watching the horrors of World War II. His published books gained particular popularity among those who also went through the war.
Quote from the book "Only my heart broke…":
The horror of fascism lies in the fact that it kills generally accepted morality, eternal moral norms, erases commandments. What does it mean for the campa doctor's Hippocratic oath compared to an order received from some Sturmbannfuehrer?
Criticism
In the atmosphere of musty totalitarianism under the Soviet Union, many publications did not want to publish Ginzburg's works. By a happy coincidence, the published book "Otherworldly Encounters" nevertheless appeared in the issue of the magazine "New World" in 1969. In this book, the author described personal interviews with the top of the Third Reich. Since its publication, the book has gained immense popularity. However, such revelations were not approved "from above". This was another reason to change the editor-in-chief. Such topical and sensitive topics were not censored at the time.
On the other hand, the German Slavist Wolfgang Kazak expressed his opinion about Ginzburg's work. In his opinion, the author incorrectly interpreted the events that took place in Germany in the pre-war period and during World War II, blaming the Germans alone for all the crimes.
Last book "Only my heart broke…"
The last book "Only my heart broke…", written by Lev Ginzburg, was published after his death. It was a particularly difficult manuscript, since the period of its writing coincided with the greatest loss in the life of a Soviet translator. Just at that time, Lev Ginzburg's wife, whom he affectionately called Buba, died.
I loved to work so that she was near, so that, looking up, I could see herface, almost always glowing with kindness, calmness and rarely irritated, angry. I copied many words and lines from her beautiful face”
According to many readers, this book is full of mercy, compassion, confession and nakedness in the face of grief. Putting his whole soul, the writer calls to be more tolerant towards relatives and friends, appeals to humanity in every person. Surely the death of his wife brought such a subtle but sharp note to his manuscript.
Leo dictated the title of his book to a nurse before the operation, after which he never woke up. These were lines in German, quoting Heinrich Heine, whose works he so often translated into Russian. This line sounded like Und nur mein Herz brach - “Only my heart broke.”
Daughter of Lev Ginzburg
Irina Ginzburg is the only daughter of a famous Soviet translator and publicist. She was born in 1950 in Moscow. The first and only husband is still the famous composer Alexander Zhurbin. She met him back in 1976, when she was only 26 years old. Then Alexander came to visit her father. You could say it was love at first sight. But they gave vent to their feelings only after some time, since Irina had a boyfriend at that time, and Alexander was married at all.
After her father's death, Irina wrote memoir prose, in which a considerable place was given to the parent and his work. For a long time, Irina indulged in reflections about what Lev Ginzburg's life could have been ifhe was able to survive to this day. After all, the country has changed, people and their perception have changed along with it, the "iron curtain" has fallen, and we are again flying in space and time, which portends no one knows what. What would Irina Ginzburg's father think about all this?
