Liu Mingjiu

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Liu Mingjiu (April 1934 – 15 December 2022) was a Chinese translator who brought French literature to Chinese readers. He was the first Chinese translator of Jean-Paul Sartre’s works and helped start Sartre studies in China. He also translated Albert Camus, making his writings accessible in China. His translations are highly respected by scholars.

He worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he led the Southern Europe and Latin American Literature Research Department and taught at the Graduate School. He served as president of the French Literature Research Association of China and held other literary and international positions. He traveled to the United States and France for academic exchanges after 1981, and in 2000 his research was chosen as the subject of a doctoral dissertation in Paris.

Liu was born in Changsha, Hunan. His father was a cook, and he had two brothers. He studied at Hunan Provincial First High School and then studied French at Peking University starting in 1953. After graduation, he worked at the Institute of Literature and later at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was married to Zhu Hong, and they had a son, Liu Difei, who died at 37, and a granddaughter, Liu Yicun, who lives in the United States. Liu Mingjiu died on 15 December 2022 at age 88. In 2018, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Translation.