Marcel Weyland
Marcel Weyland (born 1927) is a translator of Adam Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz[1] and of Echoes: Poems of the Holocaust.[2] 'The Word: 200 Years of Polish Poetry', 2010, ed. Brandl & Schlesinger, Blackheath, NSW, Australia, ISBN 978-1-921556-03-6. His most recent published work is the translation of the work of Władysław Szlenger ('the poet of the Warsaw ghetto'): What I Read to the Dead / Co czytałem umarłym, 2012, Brandl & Schlesinger, B;ackheath NSW, ISBN 9781921556333.
Life
Weyland was born in Łódź, Poland. His family fled ahead of the Germans in September 1939. They originally fled to Lithuania, where they were fortunate to receive a visa from the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. From here they went through the Soviet Union to Japan, before being interned for the rest of World War II by the Japanese in Shanghai, China. The family finally settled in Sydney, Australia, in 1946. Here he studied architecture and law.
In 1952 Weyland married artist Phillipa Keane. They live in Mosman, Sydney, Australia. They have 5 children, 21 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.
Works
Weyland translated into English Adam Mickiewicz's 'Pan Tadeusz'. This translation retains the rhythm and rhyming structure of the Polish original. It was begun in the 1960s as an attempt to convey a better sense of the original, and was initially intended for his family in Australia. Encouraged to continue it, he completed it in the hope that it would be of value to a wider audience.
In 2007 'Echoes: Poems of the Holocaust' was published. It is his translation of poems by Polish poets, Jewish and non-Jewish, written during the Holocaust and after, by survivors and witnesses and others.
In August 2010 Brandl & Schlesinger published 'The Word: 200 Years of Polish Poetry'. It is the first such bilingual anthology ever published. In 2012 the same publisher published his anthology of the prose and verse of Władysław Szlengel: 'What I Read to the Dead'.
Marcel has been recognised worldwide for his translations. He was awarded in 2005 the Order of Merit by the Polish government for his contributions to Polish culture, in 2008 the Medal of the Order of Australia, in 2012 (by the President of Poland) the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit to the Polish Commonwealth and 1n 2013 the gold medal Gloria Artis by the Polish Minister of Culture.
Notes
- ^ Mickiewicz, Adam (2004). Pan Tadeusz or The Last Foray in Lithuania: a tale of the gentry during 1811-1812. ISBN 978-1-876454-16-6.
- ^ Echoes: Poems of the Holocaust. 2007. ISBN 978-1-876454-17-3.
