Briffault, Herma Hoyt, 1898-1981
Dates
- Existence: 1898 - 1981
Biography
Herma Briffault, a prolific translator of French and Spanish books into English, died on Thursday in St. Vincent's Hospital. She was 83 years old and lived at 137 West 12th Street. Mrs. Briffault translated more than 50 books, bringing much of modern French literature to English readers. Despite the normal anonymity of that task, reviewers for The New York Times singled out for praise her renditions of two novels by Francoise Mallet-Joris - ''The Illusionist'' in 1952, observing that ''Herma Briffault's translation preserves the taut poetry of this strange novel,'' and ''House of Lies'' in 1957, cited as ''excellent.''
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Herma Briffault papers
Herman Briffault (1898-1981), writer and translator. Consist of unpublished typescript of Briffault's study of the Overland Telegraph Expedition of 1864-1867. The purpose of the expedition was to lay a telegraph line from California to Alaska and then across the Bering Sea to Russia. Includes correspondence with Vilhjalmur Stefansson about her work, as well as some research notes.