David Bellos, renowned scholar of French fiction and celebrated translator, died at his holiday home in the village of Doussard in the French Alps, on Oct. 26. He was 80.
Bellos, the Meredith Howland Pyne Professor of French Literature, and professor of French and Italian and comparative literature, was the author of 28 book-length translations and nine scholarly books about storied French writers and literature.
His work grappled with the tricky nature of interpreting between languages and embraced the potential of language itself to help us understand the human condition. He was the first translator honored with a Man Booker International Prize for Translation, in 2005.
At the time of his death, Bellos was writing a popular account of the history of the French language. His translation of Victor Hugo’s last novel, “Quatre-Vingt Treize” (“Ninety-Three”), completed several months before his death, will be published June 5, 2026, by Penguin Classics.
“David seemed to know almost everything and everyone,” said Christy Wampole, professor of French and Italian and acting department chair. “He brought an immense body of knowledge, careful scholarship and humor to our community.” He received Princeton’s Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities in 2019.
