Villette and The Professor in Spain and South America

Villette
The first Spanish translation of Villette was published in 1944 by Nausica from Barcelona (613 pp.), in a translation by P. Elias, who also wrote a preface. Elias also translated Anne Brontë’s novels, Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop and books by Mark Twain.

Cover of the 1944 Spanish Villette

Spain’s second translation was published in 1996 by Rialp from Madrid (462 pp.). Or rather, this version, ‘realized by Miguel Martin,’ was based on Elias’ translation, as is shown in an article written by Maria Teresa Fernández Martinez. In it she also relates how this Spanish Villette censored “every single element considered to be critical of Catholicism, thus distorting the meaning.”

Cover of the 1996 Spanish Villette

The real second translation in Spanish, by Eduardo Arana, was published in 1945, in Argentina, by Ayacucho from Buenos Aires. Bizarrely, Emily Brontë is given as the author of the novel. With 394 pages it is probably an abridged version. Unfortunately no picture of the cover could be found.


The third (annotated) translation, by Marta Salis, was published in 2005 by Alba from Barcelona (645 pp.). Salis also translated works from Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mrs. Gaskell, George Eliot and other authors.

Cover of the 2005 Spanish Villette

Salis’ translation was republished in 2014 by Alba, with a cover we have already seen in the cover top six article.

Cover of the 2014 Spanish Villette

The Professor
The first translation of The Professor in Spanish was published in 1884 in Chile, by La Epoca from Santiago (282 pp.). The title was El Profesor.  The author’s name is given, strangely, as Currer Ber. The translator’s name is not given.

Cover of the 1884 Chilean The Professor
(with thanks to the Biblioteca Nacional
de Chile)

The second translation was published in 1916 in Argentina, by La Nación from Buenos Aires (300 pp.), in a translation by Gregorio Lafuerza. He also translated several Dickens novels, Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and French works.

Cover of the 1916 Argentinian
The Professor

The year 1943 saw two more translations. In Argentina a new El Profesor was published by Poseidón from Buenos Aires (266 pp.). The name of the translator is not given. Luisa Sofovich (1905-1970) wrote a preface about the Brontë sisters. She was a writer and translated some French literary works, and may perhaps have done this translation..

Cover of the 1943 Argentinian
The Professor

Spain in that same year had its first translation, published by Nausica from Barcelona (279 pp.). It was translated by Agustí Esclasans (1895-1967), who also did Dickens and Eliot novels and other works from English, French and German.

Cover of the 1943 Spanish The Professor

Argentina soon had another translation, in 1946, by H.F. Casali. It was published by Acme Agency from Buenos Aires (280 pp.). It appears Casali only translated one other novel, Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme de l'Opéra.

Cover of the 1946 Argentinian
The Professor

A very short version, of 42 pages only, was published in 1947 in the Madrid literary journal Novelas y cuentos (año XIX, no 831), with the author’s name being given as Carlota Brontë.

Cover of the 1947 Spanish The Professor

Another abridged edition (157 pp.), without the name of the translator being given, was published in 1953 by Dolar from Madrid.

Cover of the 1953 Spanish
 The Professor

In 1985 another translation was published in Chile by Portada. With 189 pages it is another abridged edition. The translator is again not given.

Cover of the 1985 Chilean The Professor

A full translation was published by Alba in 2000, as El Profesor: Una historia (388 pp.) It was a translation by Gema Moral Bartolomé, who has also translated Shirley, as well as, among others, works from Henry James, Wilkie Collins and Shakespeare. This Alba edition has been reprinted in 2002, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016 with the same cover.

Cover of the 2000 Alba The Professor

Gema Moral Bartolomé’s translation has also been issued by two other publishers. Debolsillo from Barcelona had two editions in 2005 and 2007 (296 pp.), using the same cover as the Alba 2000 version. RBA from Barcelona had three editions. The first of these was published in 2004 (301 pp.).

Cover of the 2004 RBA The Professor

The second RBA edition was published in 2009, the third in 2010 (both 333 pp.)

Cover of the 2009 RBA The Professor

Cover of the 2010 RBA The Professor

Another edition of Bartolomé’s translation was published in 2014 by Alba (388 pp.), with a different cover.

Cover of the 2014 Alba The Professor

Another (annotated) translation, by Sonia Postigo Ímaz, was published in 2004 by Gredos from Madrid (378 pp.). It had a reprint in 2005. It seems to be her only translation.

Cover of the 2004 Gredos
  The Professor

In 2008, finally, a translation was published in Argentina, by Aguilar from Buenos Aires (302 pp.), which has also published translations of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and books about the Brontës. The translator of this work isn’t known, nor could a picture be found of the cover.

The other Brontë novels
Wuthering Heights was the first to be published in Spanish, in 1921, followed by Jane Eyre in 1943, Agnes Grey and Shirley in 1944 and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in 1945.

Catalunya
Four Brontë novels have been translated and published in Catalonian: Jane Eyre in 1992, Agnes Grey in 1994, Wuthering Heights in 1996 and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in 2013.

Basque Country
A Basque translation of Jane Eyre was published in 1998.


Eric Ruijssenaars