Alewyn Lee

Alewyn Lee (1926*-1993) was an Afrikaans language advisor, translator, broadcaster and occasional actor, best known for his Afrikaans translations of Anton Chekhov and for a long career as head language advisor to the SABC.

Biography

Lee completed a BA in English and Afrikaans at the University of Pretoria and joined the SABC as announcer and language editor in 1949. He rose to become the corporation's head language advisor, a post he held until his retirement, and his insistence on maintaining language standards became the stuff of legend in the industry. He published numerous works on language and language questions, and was a lifetime member of the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) and a member of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.

He died in Johannesburg in 1993, at the age of 66,* of liver cancer.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and performance

Broadcasting

Lee presented the long-running literary programme Skrywers en boeke ("Writers and books") for many years, and was a panellist on the television quiz show Dis my geheim ("This is my secret"), alongside Carel Trichardt and Sybil Coetzee, with Cobus Robinson as presenter.

Screen acting

Acting was an occasional pursuit across stage, radio and film; his stage and radio credits have not been traced.* On television he appeared in Willem. His traced film roles are Staal Burger (as Col. Japie Joubert, 1969), Breekpunt (as the chemist, 1971), Ma Skryf Matriek (1975) and Die Rebel (as Dr. Smit, 1976).

Translation

As a translator Lee had a significant impact on radio drama, television drama and the theatre over many years, (co-)translating and adapting numerous plays into Afrikaans from seven languages. Among them:

Elweheuwel, an Afrikaans version of Johan Ludvig Heiberg's Danish national play Elverhøi, translated and adapted for radio with Neil Pascoe (1953); broadcast by the SABC in Durban in its Univaal Radioteater.

Il Paese delle Vacanze by Ugo Betti, translated as Skrikkeljaar (1959).

Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, translated as Die dood van Iwan Iljitsj (1960).

Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega, translated as Skaapfontein ("Sheep Fountain") (1963).

Mariken van Nieumeghen, translated as Marietjie van Nijmegen (1963).

Alberto Moravia's novel La ciociara (Two Women), translated as Twee vroue (1965).

La regina e gli insorti by Ugo Betti, translated as Die Koningin en die Rebelle (1969).

Delitto all'isola delle capre (see Crime on Goat Island) by Ugo Betti, translated as Misdaad op Bokeiland (1969).

Alicia en el Paris de Las Maravillas by the Spanish playwright Miguel Sierra, translated as Alicia in die Wonderlike Parys.*

Ek gaan jou Doodmaak! ("I'm Going to Kill You!"), credited to Lee as a translation of an unnamed Spanish work by Joaquin Amichatis.*

He was particularly celebrated for his translations of Anton Chekhov: Die seemeeu (The Seagull), Die Kersieboord (The Cherry Orchard), Drie susters (Three Sisters), Oom Wanja (Uncle Vanya), Die Buffel (lit. "The buffalo", i.e. The Bear), Die huweliksaansoek (The Proposal, with C. Benade and Nerina Ferreira) and Die groot vraag. In 1980 his collection Die Buffel e.a. Eenakters ("The Buffalo and other one-act plays") appeared, containing Langs die grootpad, Die Buffel, Die Groot vraag and Jubileum, published by Tafelberg.

Several of these translations remained in use long after his death: Die huweliksaansoek and Die Buffel were staged together at the US Woordfees in 2011, and his Oom Anton by die see (a translation of Chekhov in Yalta) appeared on the same festival programme.