Ganzen-Kozhevnikova (née Ganzen), Marianna Petrovna (born 31.05 (12.06 New Style).1889, St. Petersburg, Russia – died 19.10.1974, Leningrad, USSR) – teacher and translator.

She was Anna Vasilyevna and Pyotr Gotfridovich Ganzen’s only daughter. It was historical justice in the fact that it was she who followed in her parents’ footsteps and became the first teacher of Danish in the history of Russian university education at the first department of  Scandinavian Languages.

There were many children in the family, Marianna and the other children ”took part” in their parents’ work. The parents gathered the children together and read new translations of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tails to them. If the children listened attentively it proved a good quality of the translation. If the interest was lost the work went on. Some fairy tales demanded a lot of thorough work before reaching the ultimate goal. It was little Marianna’s first though unconscious contribution into the art of translation. Later she did it quite consciously.

The translators’ diligence was miraculous. When the husband would leave home for work his wife would start new translations. When the husband would come home it was his turn to work and the wife would do her everyday chores. Miraculous diligence filled the children’s lives and was the most typical feature of Marianna’s character.

It seemed quite natural that the child brought up in such a family would certainly become a philologist. But Marianna chose another way. After leaving classical school she went to Biology Department of Higher Women Courses (Bestuzhev Courses) in St. Petersburg. Women teachers, who graduated from these courses, played an enormous role in the development of popular education in Russia. In 1915 Marianna left the Courses. Later she used her knowledge of Biology, Geography at school in Voronezh, where she had moved because of her marriage.  

As she thought teaching was the essence of her life. And she had been in her job for more than 50 years. But Philology became her first priority. In the 1920-s she started teaching foreign languages in secondary schools and later in colleges. Since childhood she spoke German and French fluently. Later she learnt English and Polish. At home they spoke Russian and only when she grew up she learnt Danish and other Scandinavian Languages.

Marianna Petrovna started helping her parents in their literary activities. The first translation signed by her name was the collection of Selma Lagerlöf’s stories in 1912. It was followed by other translations either her own or done together with her mother. P. G. Ganzen spent the last years of his life in Denmark, far from Russia, which he always called his second homeland. He regularly sent new works of Danish Literature to his wife who translated them together with his daughter. As an active translator Marianna Petrovna joined Leningrad branch of Writer Union.

Marianna Petrovna would constantly repeat the words: “It’s never too late to learn”. And she proved it by every minute of her life. At the age of 45 she went to correspondence department of the language college and graduated from it. At the age of 51 she started doing a degree but did not manage it because of World War II. During the War (1941-1945) she worked as a German translator.

In 1947 at the age of 58 Marianna Petrovna started working at Philological Faculty of Leningrad State University as the teacher of Danish. That was the first and the only department of such a kind in the history of Russian universities. Teaching was a great deal of blood, sweat and tears. The only exercise books were the texts typed by the teacher herself as a rule at night as a result the amount of working hours of the teaching professor was enormous. They were based on the books from her home library. There were neither Russian-Danish nor Danish-Russian dictionaries, grammar books, exercise books, readers. The students had neither Danish newspapers nor magazines. The first real student’s book called “Scandinavian Reader” appeared in Leningrad University Publishing House in 1962. The author of the Danish part was Marianna Petrovna. She had been working at University for 16 years.

Apart from studying a new language under her guidance the students were made familiar with Danish life and culture. About 40 highly qualified experts: translators, teachers, journalists, interpreters, professors, librarians, researches etc. - got excellent knowledge of Danish being students of Marianna Petrovna Ganzen-Kozhevnikova.

B. S. Zharov