Elena Kostioukovitch

Elena Kostioukovitch ( _ru. Елена Александровна Костюкович)(born 1958 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR ("now Ukraine"), is an essayist and literary translator. She is the recipient of numerous prizes, including: Best Translation of the Year (1988), Zoil (1999), Grinzane Cavour Moscow (2004) and the Welcome Prize (2005) given by the Russian National Association of Restaurateurs.

Beginning in 1998, Kostioukovich has been editor of the Russian series for Italian Publishers and, since 1996, a series from Edizioni Frassinelli, as well as a promoter of the Russian culture in Italy and of the Italian culture in Russia.Kostioukovitch’s interest in literature dates from childhood: she is the granddaughter of the Russian writer and painter Leonid Volynski (Seven Days, Moscow 1956), and had access, first in Kiev, and later in Moscow, to the rich library that her grandfather possessed. Their home was a meeting place for many men of letters and art: among the family friends who had a particular influence on Elena were such famous writers as Viktor Nekrasov and Aleksandr Galich.

At the age of 17 Kostioukovitch went through the intensive selection process to enter the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, where she studied in the Philological Faculty in the Department of Italian Literature under the guidance of the distinguished Prof. Galina Muravieva and the Dean of Russian Poetry and Translation, Prof. Eugeny Solonovich.Elena Kostioukovich graduated with honors from the University in 1980, Italian Seicento having been the focus of her degree (her thesis was dedicated to L’Adone by Giovanbattista Marino). Her work as a scholar of Italian literature has led to her translations of a number of works, including: "Orlando Furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto, "Cannocchiale Aristotelico" by Emanuele Tesauro, "Scherzi" by Giuseppe Giusti and "I Promessi Sposi" by Alessandro Manzoni. She has also translated a number of modern Italian poets. In 1998, these translations were considered worthy of being included in the Russian anthology of Best Poetry Translations of the Twentieth Century (Verses of the Century, Moscow 1998).In 1988 Kostioukovich’s translation of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose made her famous overnight; the Russian translation became a literary sensation in its own right and since its first publication has never been out of print (with more than ten subsequent editions of the translation since published).

After leaving Russian for Italy, Kostioukovich had the opportunity to make the personal acquaintance of Umberto Eco, with whom she has had a friendly relationship ever since. In addition, she has gone on to translate other novels of Eco (Foucault's Pendulum, The Island of the Day Before, Baudolino and others), thus becoming the translator par excellence of the works of one of Italy’s most famous writers into Russian. Aside from her translation work, Kostioukovitch has continues to be active at universities since coming to Italy, teaching Russian Literature and the Art of the Literary Translation, first in Trento, then in Trieste and Milano. Additionally, Elena Kostioukovitch is an active cultural promoter, contributing to the wider knowledge of Russian literature in Italian and of the Italian culture in Russia.

One of the first books introduced by Kostioukovitch to Italian readers is The Roots of Russian Culture by the academic Dmitry Likhachev (Milano, Fabbri 1991). The Italian edition of this title has had numerous editions and has been in print for over 15 years. Another unusual cultural initiative in which Kostioukovitch played an integral part was the Italian edition of Jewish Stories and Tales (Milano, Bompiani 2002) from a manuscript that was saved from the KGB’s archves. She is also the author of numerous entries dedicated to Russian writers in the Bompiani Dictionary of Works and Personalities (2004).Elena Kostioukovitch has introduced many new Russian authors to Italian readers: the best-known female Russian author of the beginning of the third millennium, Lyudmila Ulitskaya; Boris Akunin, the internationally known crime writer (a big success in Italy with 14 books already published); Nina Lugovskaja (Nina’s Diary-the Russian Anna Frank) and Sasha Sokolov, whose cult novel, A School for Fools, was finally published in Italy.

In 2006 Kostioukovitch penned a book on the role of food in Italian culture, which not only covers all of Italy’s regions, but also explores deep into the country’s history : Gusto: Why Do Italians Always Talk About Food?” (Milano, Frassinelli, 2006). A slightly different version of the same book was published in Russian under the title Eda Italianskoye Schastye (Moscow, Eksmo, 2006). This book acts as a gastronomic guide to the regions of Italy for the National Geographic office in Moscow and is widely consulted by Russian tourists who are eager to have a deeper understanding of Italian history and culture. Elena Kostioukovitch "Perché agli Italiani piace parlare del cibo" is one of the five Winners of the Selection Premium for Bancarella (cucina) Award 2007.

Elena Kostioukovitch is married she has two children and lives in Milan.

External links and references

* [http://www.perevod.it/elkost/fotogallery.html Photogallery]
* it [http://www.grinzane.it/default3.aspx?cID=388&ch=4.6&sa=detail Grinzane Cavour Moscow Prize]
* [http://magazines.russ.ru/nlo/2004/70/su38.html THE LITERARY TRANSLATION AS AN AESTHETIC INNOVATION]