Curt Wittlin

Curt Wittlin (born 1941, Reinach, Baselland) is a Swiss philologist and an expert of medieval Catalan language and literature.

Biography

Curt Wittlin

Wittlin studied romance philology in Basel with Germà Colon, and later in Paris, Florence and Barcelona. He got his PhD in 1965 with a thesis about the Catalan translation of Brunetto Latini's Treasure by Guillem de Copons. He became professor of romance philology and historical linguistics in the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon (Canada) where he arrived in 1967.

He has become specialized in the edition of medieval translations in Europe of texts from Cicero, Saint Augustine and John of Wales among others. He has worked also about Ramon Llull and about the history of the medieval Catalan libraries. Nevertheless, the Catalan writer whom he has been most of his life devoted is Francesc Eiximenis. Most of the modern editions of Francesc Eiximenis' works have been made by Curt Wittlin. Furthermore, Wittlin has written many studies and articles about Francesc Eiximenis.

In 1997 he became member of the Institute of Catalan Studies and from 1990 to 1993 he was president of the North-American Catalan Society. In 2000 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi (Saint George cross), a high distinction given by the regional Catalan government.

Works

• Lo llibre de les dones d'Eiximenis (1980) with F. Naccarato
• Repertori d'expressions multinominals i de grups de sinònims en traduccions catalanes antigues (Nicolau d'Olwer price, 1989)
• La geometria secreta del tapís de Girona in Revista de Girona, 1991
• De la traducció literal a la creació literària (Serra d'Or prize 1996)
• Entorn de les edicions de textos medievals in Estudis Romànics, 2004

External links

• (English) Biography in the University of Saskatchewan website.
• (French) Wittlin's works
• (Catalan) Article about Wittlin in the Great Catalan Encyclopedia

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Name	Wittlin, Curt
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Date of birth	1941
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