Giovanni Pontiero
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giovanni Pontiero (10 February 1932 – 10 February 1996) was a Scots-Italian scholar and translator of Portuguese fiction.[1] Most notably, he translated the works of José Saramago and Clarice Lispector, two celebrated names in Portuguese-language literature.
Born and raised in Glasgow, after secondary school Pontiero went into seminary at Biggar and later at Rimini, Italy, but at age 24 decided to abdicate from a religious career.[2] He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1960 and completed his PhD while in Brazil at Universidade Federal de Paraíba, returning to Manchester to defend his thesis on Manuel Bandeira.[2] In 1962 he was appointed lecturer in Latin American studies at Manchester. He was later promoted to senior lecturer and finally Reader in Latin-American Literature in the Victoria University of Manchester until his retirement in 1995.[3] Pontiero had a lifelong interest in the theatre, in particular the work of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858–1924). He translated, edited and wrote the introduction of Duse on Tour: The Diaries of Guido Noccioli 1906–1907 (Manchester University Press, 1981), and later went on to write a biography of Duse, Eleonora Duse: In Life and Art (Verlag Peter Lang, 1986). Pontiero died on 10 February 1996 following a debilitating illness. Despite his declining health, he continued translating until his death, completing works that were published posthumously.[4] Following his death, his collection of over 1,000 items relating to Duse was bequeathed to the Glasgow University Library in 1996.
