# Harry Willetts

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{{short description|English scholar and translator (1922–2005)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Harry Taylor Willetts''' (6 September 1922 – 7 April 2005) was an English scholar of Russian, and English language translator of Russian literature.

== Early life ==
In 1922, Willetts was born. Willetts'  father was Albert Willetts. Willetts' mother was Alice Taylor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Harry-Willetts/301147382140008287 |title=Harry Willetts |publisher=geni.com |accessdate=December 31, 2018}}</ref>

== Education ==
From 1940 to 1947, Willetts studied at [The Queen's College, Oxford](/source/The_Queen's_College%2C_Oxford).

== Career ==
After 1947, Willetts joined the [Foreign Office](/source/Foreign_Office) in the Moscow embassy.<ref name="oxfordtimes_destruction">{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/features/8710625.Destruction_and_creation/ |title=Destruction and Creation (Sam Willetts) |publisher=oxfordtimes.co.uk |date=December 1, 2010 |accessdate=December 31, 2018}}</ref> Willetts joined [St Antony's College, Oxford](/source/St_Antony's_College%2C_Oxford) in 1960.

Willetts was professor of [Russian history](/source/Russian_history) at [Oxford University](/source/Oxford_University). He was director of the Russian and East European Centre at St Antony's College, where his colleagues included the noted Russian scholars [Max Hayward](/source/Max_Hayward), [Harry Shukman](/source/Harry_Shukman) and [William Deakin](/source/William_Deakin).

A prolific translator of [Russian literature](/source/Russian_literature), Willetts is best known for his translations of the works of the [Nobel Prize](/source/Nobel_Prize) winner [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](/source/Alexander_Solzhenitsyn). As a translator, he is often credited as '''H.T. Willetts'''.

== Personal life ==
In 1957 Willetts married Halina Szenbaum, a Polish Jew, in [London](/source/London), England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Halina-Willetts/301147615370003779 |title=Halina Willetts (Szenbaum) |publisher=geni.com |accessdate=December 31, 2018}}</ref>

Willetts had three children: Sam, Cathy and Isobel.

Willetts was preceded in death by his wife Halina.<ref>[http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/antonians/2005obituaries2.pdf St Antony's obit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906143218/http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/antonians/2005obituaries2.pdf |date=2011-09-06 }}</ref> Their son [Sam Willetts](/source/Sam_Willetts) became a poet.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.librarything.com/author/willettsht H. T. Willetts at librarything.com]
* [http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/research-centres/russian-and-eurasian-studies-centre/russian-and-eurasian-studies-centre-library Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre Library at St. Antony's College]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willetts, Harry}}
Category:English translators
Category:Russian–English translators
Category:Slavists
Category:Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford
Category:1922 births
Category:2005 deaths
Category:20th-century English translators
Category:20th-century English historians
Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford
Category:20th-century British diplomats

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Harry Willetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Willetts) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Willetts?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.