Translator Interpreter – A Profession Fit for Queens and Princesses

Today, on September 30th, translators worldwide celebrate their professional day – International Translation Day.

Happy holiday, dear colleagues!

Translator Interpreter :

A Profession Fit for Queens and Princesses

I don’t want to sound excessively feminist, but this article will primarily focus on women, women-translators, or more specifically, women-translators from royal families…

The profession of a translator was highly respected in its early days. Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “A soldier who speaks two languages is worth twice as much.” However, over time, in the 20th century, with globalization and the intense development of new technologies facilitating faster and easier automatic translations, the translator’s profession is sometimes underestimated and even compared to that of a secretary. Nonetheless, the translator responds to various needs and professions worldwide.

Queen: Translator-Interpreter

So, a brief journey into the history of the profession will undoubtedly delight my female colleagues. If we look closely, we will discover that many women from European royal families were more or less in this profession, or rather, it was a profession that came naturally to them. Why? In one word, a key aspect of the education of girls from noble and royal families at the time was mastering multiple languages. Because back then, marriage was a strong and effective means to form a political alliance or improve the financial or social status of a family. You never knew in which country a girl might end up, given that political strategies changed constantly. Therefore, these girls had to be ready to speak the language of their future husband’s country – either by already mastering that language or by quickly learning it. In the end, all princesses often spoke the most important European languages and had the ability to adapt quickly to a new linguistic environment. More than that, languages were often their pleasure and pastime. For example, one of the daughters of Emperor Paul I of Russia, Alexandra Pavlovna, a future Archduchess of Austria, published two French translations in a Russian magazine called “Muse” at the age of 13.

The love of queens and princesses for languages and their mastery even had quite significant political consequences. Empress Elizabeth, better known by the nickname “Sissi,” adored the Hungarian language, which she learned despite it being one of the most complicated European languages. Her knowledge of Hungarian helped her better understand the mentality of the Hungarians and fall even more in love with the country. So, it was not a mere coincidence, and Sissi influenced her husband, Franz Joseph, to grant certain freedoms to the Hungarian people, giving birth to the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy and marking a political compromise between the two countries – Austria and Hungary.

In Sweden, the king’s love for a woman from the world of languages and translation led to changes in the laws of the country and the matrimonial tradition of several centuries. Queen Silvia of Sweden is a certified interpreter and speaks six languages. It was because of her that one of the laws was modified – because before, the kings of Sweden were not allowed to marry women who were not of royal origin. Silvia Sommerlath was not, however, she had worked for the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, as the chief of protocol, and that’s where she met her future fiancé and the love of her life, Crown Prince Gustave-Adolphe.

These are just a few examples of women from royal families who practiced the profession of translator, either as enthusiasts or professionals.

But after all, what does it mean to “be a queen”? Perhaps it means having possibilities and power that others do not have. Mastery of a language is undoubtedly the power to influence people’s decisions by providing them with new information from a source in another language. It is also the power to organize communication, dialogue among representatives of different nations. So, dear colleagues, let’s be proud of our profession, let’s be “queens”!

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