Leila Vennewitz

Leila Vennewitz (1912 – 8 August 2007) was a Canadian-English translator of German literature. She was born Leila Croot in Hampshire, England and grew up in Portsmouth. Her brother was the surgeon Sir John Croot.

She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, continuing her studies in Germany and China, where she spent twelve years. She is best known today for her translations of the works of Heinrich Boll, the Nobel Prize-winning German novelist. She also translated the works of Martin Walser, Uwe Johnson, Hermann Hesse, Nicolas Born, Alexander Kluge, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Jurek Becker, Uwe Timm, Walter Kempowski and Alfred Andersch.

Her notable translations include:

Vennewitz was married twice. She spent the last 50 years of her life in Vancouver, Canada. Her posthumous papers are stored at Indiana University.