C. K. Scott Moncrieff
The Scottish translator who gave the English-speaking world its first, and famously lyrical, version of Proust's monumental novel.
1889–1930 (age 41)·Scottish writer and translator·Birthday: September 25·The Lost Generation
Biography
C.K. Scott Moncrieff undertook one of the most daunting literary tasks of the 20th century: rendering Marcel Proust's labyrinthine French masterpiece, 'À la recherche du temps perdu,' into English. A scholar and veteran of the First World War, where he was severely wounded, Scott Moncrieff brought a poet's sensibility and a soldier's endurance to the project. His chosen title, 'Remembrance of Things Past,' taken from a Shakespeare sonnet, itself became famous. For over a decade, until his early death from cancer, he labored over Proust's complex sentences, creating a version that, while sometimes taking liberties, captured the music and psychological depth of the original. His translation introduced generations of readers to Swann, Odette, and the madeleine, shaping the Anglo-American understanding of modern literature. Though later translators have revised his work, Scott Moncrieff's remains a towering and influential achievement in the art of translation.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
C. was born in 1889, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When C. Was Born
The biggest hits of 1889
C.'s Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1889Born
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1894Started school
President: Grover Cleveland
1902Became a teenager
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1905Could drive
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1907Could vote
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1910Turned 21
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1919Turned 30
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1929Turned 40
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1930Died at 41
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
Key Achievements
- Translated the first six volumes of Marcel Proust's 'À la recherche du temps perdu' into English as 'Remembrance of Things Past'.
- Also translated other major works including 'The Song of Roland' and Stendhal's 'The Charterhouse of Parma'.
- His translation of Proust was the standard English version for over half a century.
Did You Know?
He served as a captain in the British Army during WWI and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
He worked on his Proust translation while holding a day job as a private secretary to Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe.
The final volume of Proust's novel was translated after Scott Moncrieff's death by Stephen Hudson.
He was openly gay and moved to Italy in the 1920s, partly for a more tolerant environment.
“My translation must be a living thing, not a dead husk of the original.”
