Deanna Shemek, professor of Italian at the University of California, Irvine, has won a prize for best translation of a woman’s work from the Society of the Study of Early Modern Women. Professor Shemek was honored for her translation of Isabelle d’Este: Selected Letters (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Publications, 2017). Her edition is the first translation into English of more than 16,000 letters written by the influential Italian baroness on a broad range of topics.
“The Renaissance is widely known as a time that produced multifaceted men of many talents,” Dr. Shemek said. “It’s important to me to reveal the fact that there were also remarkable women in this period, and Isabella d’Este was surely one of them. The Society of the Study of Early Modern Women is dedicated to increasing our knowledge about women around the world roughly during 1400 to 1700, so this prize is an especially meaningful honor.”
Dr. Shemek holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in Italian studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.