Perhaps the name Nina Berberova rings a bell. The Rue Nina Berberova is named after a remarkable woman. She was a Russian-born émigré writer. Berberova was also a biographer editor and translator. Her works often explored the lives of exiles.
Let’s delve deeper into the life of Nina Berberova. Born in St. Petersburg Russia on August 8 1901 she lived a long and full life. She passed away in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on September 26 1993 at the age of 92.
In 1922 Berberova left the Soviet Union. She then lived in Germany Czechoslovakia and Italy. These moves were part of Maxim Gorky’s entourage. By 1925 she settled in Paris.
While in Europe Nina Berberova contributed to the literary scene. She co-edited the journal Novy dom meaning New House. Also she worked as a literary editor for the weekly Russkaya mysl or Russian Thought.
Although Berberova wrote four novels she found greater success in short stories and novellas. One notable cycle of stories is called “Biyankurskiye prazdniki” or Billancourt Holidays. These stories appeared serially from 1928 to 1940 in Posledniye novosti. They were later published in the U.S.S.R in 1989. Another collection is Oblegcheniye uchasti or The Easing of Fate. She also wrote poetry and biographies.
In 1950 Nina Berberova moved to the United States. She became a citizen and worked as a language instructor. She also worked as a Voice of America radio announcer. Later she embarked on a teaching career. This included lecturing at Yale University from 1958 to 1963. She also was a professor of literature at Princeton University from 1963 to 1971.
Her autobiography The Italics Are Mine came out in 1969. It was first published in English then in Russian. The Tattered Cloak a collection of her early short stories translated into English was published in 1991. Three Novels and Three Novels The Second Volume contain translations of her earlier Russian writings.
Even after Nina Berberova’s death translations of her work continued. These included a biography Aleksandr Blok and three novellas in The Ladies from St. Petersburg. Two novels The Book of Happiness and Cape of Storms were also published posthumously. Nina Berberova also translated works by Romain Rolland Constantine Cavafy and T.S. Eliot into Russian. She also translated Fyodor Dostoyevsky into French.
Nina Berberova’s stories often depicted Russian émigrés in France. She described their lives in vivid detail. She wrote without sentimentality. Her characters came from various backgrounds. She explored their environments including the more unpleasant aspects without judgment.
Marian Schwartz a translator played a key role in bringing Berberova’s work to English readers. Schwartz translated short stories like The Tattered Cloak and The Ladies from St. Petersburg. She also translated the novella The Accompanist and the novel The Book of Happiness. Schwartz has said that Berberova felt her best work was the novella collection Sentence Commuted. This collection mostly overlaps with The Tattered Cloak and Other Stories.
It’s fitting that this street the Rue Nina Berberova honors a woman who captured the essence of the émigré experience. Her work continues to resonate with readers today. They appreciate her unique perspective and literary talent.