Hartmut Fähndrich (born 14 October 1944) is a German scholar and translator, specialising in translation of Arabic literature into German.[1] He was born in Tübingen and studied at the universities of Tübingen, Münster, and UCLA. He obtained an MA in comparative literature and a PhD in Islamic studies from UCLA. In 1972, he moved to Switzerland where he has lived ever since. He has taught at the University of Berne and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.[2]
Fähndrich is regarded as the pre-eminent German translator of Arabic literature working today. He has more than 50 book-length works to his credit and numerous other shorter works. His first translated work was Wild Thorns (German title: Der Feigenkaktus) by Sahar Khalifeh in 1983. Since then he has translated books by many of the most important Arabic writers, from Naguib Mahfouz to Alaa al-Aswany. A partial list of these writers is provided below; the full list can be found here (PDF).
Fähndrich has received numerous awards for his work, including several from the city of Berne, one from the Arab League in 2004, from Egypt's Supreme Council of Culture in 2006, and from Saudi Arabia in 2009.[3] He was also a member of the IPAF jury in 2008.[4]