Nancy Molavi

Nancy Molavi was born in Switzerland. She spent her childhood in Lugano, Monaco, and Madagascar. She was bilingual French-Italian, studied Latin and Greek in high-school, and graduated from the Lycée of Monaco. She attended the School of Translation and Interpretation in Geneva, Switzerland, learned English and some Farsi before meeting her future husband. They were married in Columbia, Missouri, where they both attended the University of Missouri. They live in Columbia; they have two children and two grandchildren.

She earned her PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures (French and Spanish). Besides her love of languages and her interest in translation, she developed a profound admiration for Émile Zola’s work; she lectured on the author’s novels and plays at Stephen’s College of Columbia and at the University of Missouri, Columbia. After she retired in 2011, she devoted her attention to Zola, searching for all the sketches and portraits of animals scattered throughout his complete works, and translated them into English.