Constellation Similarity Assertions

Michael Hamburger, the poet, translator, and literary critic, was born in Berlin in 1924 into a German-Jewish family which emigrated to England in 1933. He read Modern Languages at Christ Church, Oxford, although his studies were interrupted by war service from 1943-1947. After the war he held posts at University College, London and the University of Reading. From 1964 onwards he was a guest lecturer and visiting professor at various American universities, but mostly devoted himself to freelance writing and translation. His translations have won many prizes and awards, notably the Schlegel-Tieck prize three times, and he has translated, among others, from Baudelaire, Celan, Hlderlin, and Enzensberger. His literary critical study, The truth of poetry, was published in 1969 and his Collected poems in 1984.

From the guide to the Correspondence of Michael Hamburger, with associated literary manuscripts and other material, 1929-1995, (Leeds University Library)