Winkworth, Susanna (1820–1884)

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Winkworth, Susanna (1820–1884)

English writer, translator, and social reformer. Born on August 13, 1820, in London, England; died on November25, 1884, in Clifton, Bristol, England; daughter of Henry Winkworth (a silk merchant) and Susanna (Dickenson) Winkworth; sister of Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878); educated by governesses and tutors; privately studied German language and literature.

Selected writings:

translation (with substantial addition of new material) of Niebuhr's Life (1851–52); translation of Theologica Germanica (1854); translation and completion of Hare's Life of Luther (1855); translation of Bunsen's Signs of the Times (1856); translation of the life and sermons of John Tauler (1857); translation of Max Muller's German Love from the Papers of an Alien (1858); translation of Bunsen's God in History (1868–70).

Born in London on August 13, 1820, Susanna Winkworth was one of four daughters of Henry Winkworth, a silk merchant and son of an evangelical cleric, and Susanna Dickenson Winkworth , daughter of a Kent farmer. In 1829, Henry moved his family to Manchester where the daughters were educated by governesses and tutors, including two distinguished Unitarian ministers, the Reverend William Gaskell and the Reverend James Martineau. Gaskell later married Elizabeth Gaskell , a highly regarded novelist and friend of Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë . Martineau was the brother of abolitionist and writer Harriet Martineau .

Susanna became interested in German history during the course of her studies, and both she and her sister Catherine Winkworth were extraordinarily gifted translators. Susanna confided to her friend Elizabeth Gaskell that she would like to translate the existing biography of the German historian and statesman Barthold Georg Niebuhr into English. Niebuhr, a professor of history in Berlin and Prussian ambassador to the Vatican, had altered the study of history by developing a critical approach. Following their conversation in 1850, Gaskell arranged for Winkworth to meet Baron Bunsen, the acting German ambassador to England in Rome. Susanna worked as Bunsen's secretary in Bonn, Germany, while completing translations and original research related to her interest in Niebuhr. She completed her translation of Niebuhr's Life in 1851, adding such extensive new material in the form of letters and essays that the biography essentially became an original work. Chapman & Hall published it in 1851–52.

Meanwhile, Bunsen had become Wink-worth's mentor in German literature and suggested that she translate the Theologica Germanica, a text that had been discovered and published by Martin Luther in 1516. Her translation was completed and published in 1854, containing a preface by Charles Kingsley, the novelist and cleric probably best known for his children's book The Water-Babies. Historian Julius Charles Hare had begun a life of Martin Luther and Winkworth finished the biography in 1855. She also translated Bunsen's own works, Signs of the Times (1856) and God in History (1868–70). Winkworth further translated the biography and sermons of theologian John Tauler (1857) and the work German Love from the Papers of an Alien (1858), written by Max Muller.

After the Winkworth family suffered financial setbacks, Susanna moved with them to Clifton, a part of the city of Bristol in southwestern England. Both Susanna and Catherine became activists in local causes. Susanna's attention turned first to establishing higher standards of housing for the poor. She also shared Catherine's interest in promoting higher education for women. While Catherine accomplished more notable achievements with respect to women's education and betterment, both Winkworths were delegates to the 1872 German Conference on Women's Work. Susanna engaged in a number of other philanthropic efforts before she died in Clifton on November 25, 1884, having outlived her younger sister by six years.