Within the framework of the Spain-India Encounter organized by Casa Asia and the Cervantes Institute as part of the activities of this Dual Year of Spain and India, the Cervantes Institute's Vault of Letters received the legacy of the Indian Hispanist Vibha Maurya, the first translator of Don Quixote into Hindi from the original work.
In a ceremony attended by the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Moontero, and the director of the Cervantes Institute in New Delhi, Maria Gil Bürmann, the honored Hispanist deposited the Hindi edition of Don Quixote, with the first part translated in 2005 and the second ten years later. The author noted that "the process of translating Cervantes's work fostered a relationship that was both intimate and intimidating. I did it alone at my desk, without anyone's help."
The author also included in the legacy a notebook with a compilation of proverbs from Cervantes's work, as well as a pin with Cervantes's portrait, which she always kept on her desk "like a talisman," and a photograph of the Hispanist translating Don Quixote. "Most of the time she was alone, because she only had a conversation with Don Quixote and Cervantes," she noted.
Luis García Montero emphasized that the Hispanist "translated with the fidelity and sensitivity of someone who knows Cervantes from the inside, with rigorous research," and added that "translating this work was a very personal and courageous decision and undertaking that has become filled with collective significance for us."
Vibha Maurya, also a recipient of the FCEI Prize
A professor of Hispanic studies at Delhi University, Vibha Maurya has dedicated more than four decades to teaching Spanish and Latin American language and literature at the university level. With several published books and numerous translations of Spanish works, his most significant contribution is the first direct Spanish-to-Hindi translation of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote. For his contribution to strengthening ties between Spain and India, as well as promoting Spanish culture in the Asian country, Vibha Maurya received the IV Spain-India Council Foundation Award in 2023.
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