Mate Maras Presents his Translation Masterpiece

The collected works of William Shakespeare, translated by Croatian translator Mate Maras, have been published by Matica Hrvatska in four volumes on a total of six thousand pages. This unique achievement crowns a two-hundred-year period since this master’s work was first translated into Croatian.

A unique work by master translator Mate Maras was presented to the public on the day when we celebrate the 166th anniversary of the establishment of Matica Hrvatska. All the collected works of William Shakespeare, i.e. all of Shakespeare’s 38 tragedies comedies and novels and 154 sonnets, have been put together in four books totaling six thousand pages. Although all of these works were already accessible to Croatian readers, and although polyglot Mate Maras, who speaks a dozen foreign languages, had been working on the translation of Shakespeare’s works for some thirty years, this is still a special achievement which crowns the two-hundred-year long efforts of Croatian translators to translate the words of this world-renown dramatist into Croatian.

Since it was founded in 1842, Matica Hrvatska has developed into one of the most influential cultural institutions and one of the largest publishers of books and magazines in Croatia. Every year, it launches over a hundred titles, and its publishing portfolio comprises some twenty ongoing projects among which the Century of Croatian Literature is perhaps the most important one. Matica Hrvatska has a hundred or so branches all over the country, and the main office publishes the bimonthly Vijenac, a magazine for literature, arts and science, as well as the purely literary magazines Kolo and Hrvatska Revija. Besides its publishing activity, Matica Hrvatska also cherishes its activity as an organizer of many cultural, scientific and professional events.