Michael Henry Heim: In Memoriam

Tue Oct 2 18:00:15 UTC 2012

Thank you, Russell, for your tribute and his wonderful reminiscences of his
time in Prague. I look forward to the book,
Ellen

2012/10/2 Valentino, Russell <russell-valentino at uiowa.edu>

> A few heartfelt tributes:
>
> http://iowareview.uiowa.edu/?q=fresh-blog/oct-01-2012/michael_henry_heim
>
> http://translationista.blogspot.com/
>
> http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=4792
>
> and a rare interview-memoir with MHH:
>
> http://www.iowareview.org/Heim_Happy_Babel
>
> Russell Valentino
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Dmitriev, Victor
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 9:22 PM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Michael Henry Heim: In Memoriam
>
>
> Умер Майкл Хайм...
>
> Ужасная, ужасная весть! Майкл был совершенно потрясающая личность. Да,
> профессор, да, известный лингвист, переводчик... Но прежде всего, -
> совершенно необычный человек, удивительно скромный, простой, не было в нем
> этого самого "я профессор", было в нем другое - я такой же как и все
> вокруг, я учусь у мира, у людей, у коллег, у студентов, мне не лень учиться
> и восхищаться людьми. В нем было это удивительное восхищение миром... Бог
> знает как давно я видел его в последний раз, но у меня всегда было чувство,
> что в Лос-Анжелесе живет мой хороший и добрый друг..., мой старший друг,
> хотя если он и был старше меня, то не на много. Мы все любили его,
> бесконечно уважали, восхищались им. Как много он поддерживал нас,как
> помогал, как переживал за каждого... Жуткая потеря для всех для нас,
> большое горе. Весь этот день думаю о нем, вспоминаю  Присциллу, в которой
> было что-то от древней римлянки... Ее античная красота, чувство
> достоинства, умение носить свою красоту вот с этой античной (патрицианской)
> грацией, каждое движение, каждое слово, каждая интонация, все пронизано
> тонким, каким-то особым, я бы сказал - филологическим умом... Кто знает
> Присциллу, те сразу согласятся со мной, согласятся с тем, что я ни грана не
> преувеличиваю. Какая красивая была семья, какие красивые люди. Вспоминаю,
> как в Халловин я, моя жена и Неля Дубрович (она тогда работала в русской
> комнате, не знаю, работает ли сейчас) пришли к ним на квартиру и протянули
> мешки для конфет. Майкл смутился, стал извиняться, что угощать нечем,
> никого не ждали, ничего не приготовили, кричит вглубь квартиры - Присцилла,
> Присцилла, дети пришли, у нас есть что-нибудь им дать?.. Тут мы не
> выдержали и начали хохотать... Думали, что он нас сразу узнал, а он нас
> принял за детей... Но  ведь он и к детям относился как ко взрослым; во
> взрослых видел детей, а в детях взрослых...
>                   Такой он был человек... Он человек был в полном смысле
> слова...
>
> Виктор Дмитриев
> Людмила Дмитриев-Одье
> ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [
> SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Vroon, Ronald [
> vroon at HUMNET.UCLA.EDU]
> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 10:34 AM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: [SEELANGS] Michael Henry Heim: In Memoriam
>
> Dear Colleagues and Friends,
> The community of students and scholars at UCLA mourns the untimely passing
> of Professor Michael Henry Heim, who succumbed to cancer on September 29,
> 2012 after a prolonged, valiant struggle. A distinguished professor and
> former chair (1999-2003) of the Department of Slavic Languages and
> Literatures who taught at UCLA for some forty years, Professor Heim was an
> internationally recognized scholar whose translations from a dazzling array
> of Slavic (Russian, Czech, Serbian/Croatian) and other European (Dutch,
> French, German, Hungarian, Romanian) languages into English placed him in
> the forefront of our profession.
>
> He was a theorist, a practitioner and a cultural activist, among the
> finest literary translators of the last half-century and a pioneer in the
> field of translation studies. His 1975 translation of Chekhov’s letters,
> reprinted by Northwestern University Press, was praised in the New York
> Review of Books as the best English guide to Chekhov’s thought. His
> translation of Kornei Chukovsky’s monumental 600 page "Diary" adds an
> important witness to the period from 1901 through the period of Soviet
> power. His translation of Thomas Mann’s "Death in Venice" received the
> prestigious Helen and Kurt Wolff Translation Prize (2005). Professor Heim’s
> career in the European field was crowned with his selection, over many
> distinguished professionals, as the translator of Günter Grass’s Nobel
> prize-winning work, "My Century." He was again honored when he was
> commissioned to translate Grass’ memoir, "Peeling the Onion." Although
> Professor Heim’s reputation rests primarily on his translations, his early
> scholarly studies of Russian eighteenth-century writers and their
> philosophies of translation continue to be highly regarded by specialists
> on Russian Classicism.
>
> Michael Heim was an inspiring teacher and a dedicated mentor who
> contributed to his students’ intellectual development both in class and
> outside. Students praise him as a teacher whose door was always open.
> Students rated his courses, especially the translation workshop he offered
> in the Department of Comparative Literature, as among the best at UCLA. A
> former student who benefitted from Heim’s mentoring and is now an Associate
> Professor of Spanish recalls “uncountable hours of stimulating
> intellectual” discussions and calls Heim “an unsurpassed model” as a
> teacher. TAs trained by Heim comment on how much his teaching influenced
> their own when they became professors.
>
> Michael Heim served on the editorial boards of professional journals and
> of a translation series published by Northwestern University Press and
> reviewed manuscripts on a regular basis for major university and commercial
> publishers in America and Britain.  He served on juries for the National
> Endowment for the Humanities and was a member of the Executive Board of the
> American Literary Translators Association. He also served regularly on
> scholarship and planning committees of leading American Slavic
> organizations, and organized numerous conferences—local, national and
> international.
>
> Among the many awards and honors he received during his last decade at
> UCLA are his induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
> (2002), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2005), the Ralph Mannheim Award for a
> Lifetime in Translation (2009), and the Special Lifetime Scholarly
> Achievement Award, with which he was honored at the January 2012 AATSEEL
> convention. Shortly before his passing, he was promoted to the rank of UCLA
> Distinguished Professor.
>
> Michael earned the profound admiration and affection of students and
> colleagues alike, and will be sorely missed.
>
> Ronald Vroon, Chair
> Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures University of California, Los
> Angeles
>
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