Anthea Bell

Anthea Bell OBE (born 1936) is a British translator who has translated numerous literary works, especially children's literature, from French, German, Danish and Polish to English. She is known for her numerous translations, including Austerlitz one of the most significant German language works of fiction for the period since the Second World War, and of the French Asterix comics along with co-translator Derek Hockridge.

Biography

Bell was born in Suffolk, United Kingdom. According to her own accounts, she picked up lateral thinking abilities essential in a translator from her father Adrian Bell, Suffolk author and the first Times cryptic crossword setter. She was educated at Somerville College, Oxford.

She presently lives and works from Cambridge, United Kingdom. Her son, Oliver Kamm, is a columnist for The Times. Her brother, Martin Bell, is a former MP and a former BBC correspondent, who is now an ambassador for UNICEF.

Works

Anthea Bell has translated numerous Franco-Belgian comics of the bande dessinée genre into English, most notably Asterix – for which her innovative new puns have been critically acclaimed for keeping the original French spirit intact. Other notable...
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