Jan Knappert 1992
Jan Knappert’s Kalevala in Swahili was published in 1992.
The Dutch Jan Knappert (1927–2005) was a linguist and researcher of literature who had a vast knowledge of African and Asian studies. He was specialised in African languages – particularly in Swahili and other Bantu languages – and also in Esperanto.
The most important works by Knappert are considered to be the ones about Islamic poetry and epic poetry in Swahili. However, he also wrote a dictionary of Esperanto–Swahili and his translation of the Kalevala into Swahili Utenzi wa kalevala was published in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 1992. It was illustrated by the Tanzanian Robino Ntila.
Robino Ntila illustrated Jan Knappert’s translation.
In his book Cultural Politics of Translation Alamin M. Mazrui writes that professor Marja-Liisa Swantz had told him that Jan Knappert had learned to know Finnish folklore already at a younger age. The translator, Alpha A. Diallo (1952–1984), who was born in Guinea and who worked in Hungary and in Finland, had translated the Kalevala into Fulani language in 1983 and Jan Knappert suggested to Swantz that they would also attempt to make a translation into Swahili. Knappert knew many languages, but he did not know Finnish. The translation of the Kalevala by Jan Knappert into the Swahili language is, thus, based on translations in English, German and Dutch. The result was an abridged version, that, nonetheless, gives the reader an insight into the style and contents of the poems.
Alamin M. Mazrui: Cultural Politics of Translation. East Africa in a Global Context. Routledge. 2016.
Wikipedia: Jan Knappert