Filipe Guerra and Nina Guerra, renowned for translating Russian classics for this editorial group, also contributed translations for publishers like Relógio d’Água and Assírio e Alvim.
In a statement on his passing, Francisco Vale, the editor of Relógio d’Água, commemorated the pair’s three-decade collaboration, translating authors such as Tchékhov, Tolstói, Akhmátova, Béli, Zamiátin, Chmeliov, Búnin, and Maria Stepánova.
“Their commitment extended to reaching out to the publisher to praise or point out errors in Russian translations published by others. Over time, we grew to appreciate their precision, skill, and generosity,” Francisco Vale noted.
Francisco Vale highlighted Filipe Guerra as a role model for young translators and a key contributor to the publisher.
Assírio e Alvim also paid homage, expressing sorrow and recalling Filipe Guerra as an “inexhaustible translator” and “demanding reader.”
Reflecting on the importance of people and readers to a publisher’s success, Assírio e Alvim expressed indebtedness to Filipe Guerra for his work and friendship.
Filipe Guerra reportedly passed away on July 6 at the Garcia de Orta Hospital in Almada, after a prolonged illness, as indicated by his son.
Born in 1948, Filipe Guerra graduated in Romance Philology from the Faculty of Arts of the Classical University of Lisbon and studied Linguistics at the Université Paris VIII (Vincennes).
His professional life was devoted to culture and literature, beginning his career with the Esteiros Bookstore Cooperative in 1975.
He was also known for writing and hosting weekly radio programs about books on RDP1 and Antena 2 between 1979 and 1982.
In addition, he contributed articles to literary newspapers and magazines.
From 1986 to 1989, Filipe Guerra engaged in literary translation at Editorial Progresso in Moscow, where he met Nina Guerra, who later relocated to Lisbon.
Between 1989 and 1991, he focused on literary revision and translation at Editorial Caminho. Starting in 1994, he exclusively worked on Russian translations with Nina Guerra, resulting in over 70 jointly translated titles.
On his own, Filipe Guerra translated more than 40 titles from French, Spanish, and Italian.
In 2002, the translation duo received an award from the Portuguese Authors Society and the Portuguese Pen Club for their translations of Dostoiévski and Tchekhov, and in 2012, they were honored with a special jury prize from LER/Booktailors magazine for their literary translations.
Among their notable translations are Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” “Crime and Punishment,” “The Idiot,” “The Gambler,” “White Nights,” and “The Double”; Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” “Anna Karenina,” and “Resurrection”; Tchékhov’s “The Seagull,” “Uncle Vanya,” “Three Sisters,” and “The Cherry Orchard”; the complete poetry of Óssip Mandelstam; and Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog.”
Filipe Guerra passed away at the age of 77.
