Burkhart Kroeber

Burkhart Kroeber, born in Potsdam in 1940, studied Egyptology, Romance studies and political science in Tübingen, Heidelberg and Paris, earning a doctorate in Tübingen in 1968. He worked as a translator from 1971 onward, mainly translating literary works from Italian. He became particularly known for his German translations of works by Umberto Eco, including “The Name of the Rose,” and by Italo Calvino. He also translated American literature and produced new translations of classics by authors such as Alessandro Manzoni and Giacomo Leopardi. His work earned him several awards, including the Literature Prize of the Cultural Circle of German Business (1985), the Johann Heinrich Voß Prize for Translation (2001), the Munich Translator’s Prize (2006), the Christoph Martin Wieland Translator’s Prize (2011), and the German-Italian Translator’s Prize for lifetime achievement (2013).