Elsa Kazi

Elsa Kazi
Elsa Kazi in later years
Born
Gertrude Loesch

(1884-10-03)3 October 1884
Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German Empire
Died28 May 1967 (aged 82–83)
Spouse(s)Allama I.I. Kazi[1]
(m. 1910; wid. 1967)

Elsa Kazi (1884–1967), commonly known as "Mother Elsa", particularly in the Sindh province of Pakistan, was a German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and a poet.[citation needed] She was a composer and a musician of considerable achievement, involved in virtually every conspicuous branch of fine arts.[citation needed] Her paintings are often seen in many distinguished family homes.[citation needed]

Although not well conversant with the Sindhi language, she managed to develop some of the best translations of selected verses of Shah Abdul Latif into English with the support of her husband, Allama I. I. Kazi. She successfully couched the substance of those verses in a poetical setting which, in musical terms, reflects the original Sindhi metrical structure and expression in which Latif had cast them. Her translation of Shah Abdul Latif's poetry is considered by many to be the best in English.[2][3][4][5] Her works have been the subject of several doctoral theses.[6] She is also famous for her stories for children.[7] Furthermore, the University of Washington Libraries has rated one of her works "Temptation: a drama of Sind country life in three acts" published in 1942 and "Aeolian: notes of an overstrung lyre" published in 1920 amongst the best South Asian literature that emerged before the Partition of India in 1947.[8]

  1. ^ Kazi, Ghulam Nabi. "A letter from Elsa Kazi to her husband Allama II Kazi on 20 April 1950".
  2. ^ "I.I. Kazi remembered". Dawn. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  3. ^ Kazi, Elsa. "Shah jo Risalo". scribd.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
  4. ^ Madam Elsa Kazi. "Indus Valley Civilization: Poetry of Great Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Translated in English". indusvalleycivilizationf.blogspot.com.
  5. ^ Kazi, Elsa. "Risalo of Shah Abdul Latif translated". Academy of the Punjab in North America.
  6. ^ "A study of the mystic element in the English poetry of Elsa Kazi". eprints.hec.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  7. ^ "The Neem tree". usingenglish.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  8. ^ "South Asian Literature in English, pre-Independence era". lib.washington.edu. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.