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{{Short description|Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
| image       = Alexander Teixeira de Mattos by Hoppe.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Portrait of Teixeira de Mattos by [[E. O. Hoppé]]
| birth_name  = Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1865|04|09|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1921|12|05|1865|04|09|df=y}}
| death_place = [[St Ives, Cornwall|St Ives]], [[Cornwall]], England
| nationality = 
| other_names = 
| occupation  = Journalist, critic, publisher, professional translator
| known_for   = Translations
| signature   = Alexander Teixeira de Mattos signature.jpg
}}

'''Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos ''' (9 April 1865 &ndash; 5 December 1921), known as '''Alexander Teixeira de Mattos,''' was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator.

==Early life==
The Teixeira de Mattos Sampaio e Mendes family was of [[Spanish and Portuguese Jews|Portuguese Jewish]] origin, having been driven out of Portugal to the Netherlands by [[Holy Office]] persecution. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos was born as a Dutch Protestant to an English mother and a Dutch father. In 1874, when he was nine years old, he and his family moved from Amsterdam to England.<ref name=McKenna10>{{cite book|title=Tex: A Chapter in the Life of Alexander Teixeira de Mattos|url=https://archive.org/details/texchapterinlife00mcke|first=Stephen|last=McKenna|location=New York|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|year=1922|page=[https://archive.org/details/texchapterinlife00mcke/page/10 10]}}</ref> There, he studied under Monsignor [[Thomas John Capel]]<ref name=McKenna10/><ref name=NYT04>{{cite news|title=About Authors|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/05/07/101391336.pdf|access-date=31 May 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 May 1904}}</ref> and converted to Roman Catholicism.<ref name=McKenna10/><ref name=Schenkar>{{cite book|last=Schenkar|first=Joan|title=Truly Wilde: The Unsettling Story of Oscar Wilde's Niece|year=2000|publisher=Virago Press|location=Great Britain|isbn=0306810794|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEmGdBrEPZcC&q=texiera}}</ref> He then studied at the Kensington Catholic Public School<ref name=McKenna11>McKenna, p. 11.</ref> and at the Jesuit school [[Beaumont College]].<ref name=NYT04/><ref name=McKenna11/>

==Career==
After his studies, Teixeira came into contact with [[J. T. Grein]], a London impresario of Dutch origin, and was made secretary of Grein's [[Independent Theatre Society]]. He worked as a freelance translator, as the London correspondent of a Dutch newspaper, and as the editor of the papers ''Dramatic Opinions'' and ''The Candid Friend'', and, in collaboration with [[Leonard Smithers]], in publishing. He became the official translator of the works of [[Maurice Maeterlinck]], beginning with Maeterlinck's ''[[The Double Garden]]''.<ref name=McKenna11/>

Teixera was fluent in English, French, German, Flemish, Dutch, and Danish.<ref>McKenna, p. 8.</ref> In addition to the later works of Maeterlinck, his translations include works by [[Émile Zola]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], [[Maurice Leblanc]], [[Gaston Leroux]], [[François René de Chateaubriand]], [[Paul Kruger]], [[Carl Ewald]], [[Georgette Leblanc]], [[Stijn Streuvels]], and [[Louis Couperus]]. He considered his greatest achievement to be his complete translation of [[Jean-Henri Fabre]]'s natural history.<ref>McKenna, p. 12.</ref>

In the 1890s, Teixeira was the leading translator for the Lutetian Society, a group whose mission was "to issue to its members, translations of such representative master-pieces of fiction by Continental authors as are unprocurable in English in an unmutilated rendering." He oversaw the Society's publication of unexpurgated translations of six banned novels by [[Émile Zola]] in 1894–5, contributing his own translation of the third volume in the series, ''[[La curée]]''.<ref name=Merkle>{{cite journal|last=Merkle|first=Denise|title=The Lutetian Society|journal=[[TTR: traduction, terminologie, rédaction]]|year=2003|volume=16|issue=2|pages=73–101|doi=10.7202/010716ar|url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/TTR/2003/v16/n2/010716ar.html|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], Teixera was head of the Intelligence Section, as well as a member of the Advisory Board, of the War Trade Intelligence Department.<ref>McKenna, p. 14.</ref> Midway through the war, Teixeira became a British subject.<ref name=McKenna10/> In June 1920, he was made a Chevalier of the [[Order of Leopold II]].<ref>McKenna, p. 90.</ref>

==Personal life==
On 20 October 1900, he married Lily Wilde, née Sophie Lily Lees (1859-1922), the widow of [[Oscar Wilde]]'s older brother [[Willie Wilde]] and thus became the stepfather of [[Dolly Wilde]], then age 5.<ref name=Schenkar/> Alexander and Lily Teixeira de Mattos had one son, who died a few hours after birth.<ref>McKenna, p. 16.</ref>

Teixeira was known to his acquaintances as a [[dandy]] and a fastidious worker, keeping strictly to set hours, and was linked to the [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolist]] movement thanks to his friendship and travels with [[Arthur Symons]].<ref name=Merkle /> He was also personal friends with Maurice Maeterlinck and Louis Couperus, both of whom wrote works he translated.<ref>McKenna, p. 19.</ref> He was politically [[liberalism|liberal]] and a devout Catholic.<ref>McKenna, pp. 29.</ref>

Due to ill health, Teixeira traveled on a [[rest cure]] in 1920 at [[Crowborough]] and the [[Isle of Wight]], returning to his home in [[Chelsea, London]] in spring 1921. He worked as usual through the autumn and traveled to [[Cornwall]] for the winter.<ref name=McKenna15>McKenna, p. 15.</ref> On 5 December 1921, in [[St Ives, Cornwall|St Ives]], Cornwall<ref name=NYTobit/> he collapsed and died from [[angina pectoris]].<ref name=McKenna15/> ''[[The New York Times]]'', in its obituary notice, called him "one of the best translators of foreign languages of the present generation."<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news|title=Books and Authors|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/15/109831614.pdf|access-date=31 May 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 January 1922}}</ref> The high quality and readability of Teixera's work was such that many of his translations are still in print today. For example, though his translation of ''La curée'' is over a century old, its accuracy and style have given it a status still unrivaled by more modern versions.<ref name=Merkle />

==List of translations==
The dates given in the list below are the publication dates for Teixeira's translations. Unless otherwise referenced, all information in the list is derived from catalog entries in [[WorldCat]].

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
|-
! Author
! Title
! Year
|-
| Arthur Byl
| ''Yvette Guilbert''
| 1898
|-
| Antoine de Castellane
| ''Men and things of my time''
| 1911
|-
| [[François René de Chateaubriand]]
| ''[[The memoirs of François René, vicomte de Chateaubriand, sometime ambassador to England]]'' 
| 1902
|-
| [[Louis Couperus]]
| ''[[Ecstasy: A Study of Happiness]]'' <small>(Translated with John Gray)<ref name=Merkle /></small>
| 1892
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''Majesty: A Novel'' <small>(Begun by Teixeira, completed by Ernest Dowson)<ref name=Merkle /></small>
| 1894
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''The Books of Small Souls'', Vol. I: ''Small Souls''
| 1914
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''The Books of Small Souls'', Vol. II: ''The Later Life''
| 1915
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''The Books of Small Souls'', Vol. III: ''The Twilight of the Souls''
| 1917
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''The Books of Small Souls'', Vol. IV: ''Dr. Adriaan''
| 1918
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''Old People and the Things that Pass''
| 1918
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''The Tour: A Story of Ancient Egypt''
| 1920
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''[[Inevitable (book)|The Inevitable]]''
| 1920
|-
| Louis Couperus
| ''[[The Hidden Force|The Hidden Force: A Story of Modern Java]]''
| 1921
|-
| Robert d'Humières
| ''Through Isle and Empire''
| 1905
|-
| [[Carl Ewald]]
| ''My Little Boy''
| 1906
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''Two-Legs''
| 1906
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The spider, and other tales''
| 1907
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The Old Room''
| 1908
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The Four Seasons''
| 1913
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The Old Willow-tree, and other stories''
| 1921
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The Pond''
| 1922
|-
| Carl Ewald
| ''The twelve sisters and other stories''
| 1923
|-
| Jean-Henri Fabre
| ''The Works of J. H. Fabre''
| 1912–1922
|-
| Fernand Grenard
| ''Tibet: the country and its inhabitants''
| 1904
|-
| [[Jozef Israëls]]
| ''Spain: the story of a journey''
| 1900
|-
| Melati van Java
| ''The Resident's Daughter''
| 1893
|-
| [[Paul Kruger]]
| ''The memoirs of Paul Kruger, four times president of the South African republic''
| 1902
|-
| [[Georgette Leblanc]]
| ''The Children's Bluebird''
| 1913
|-
| Georgette Leblanc
| ''The Choice of Life''
| 1914
|-
| Georgette Leblanc
| ''The girl who found the blue bird; a visit to [[Helen Keller]]''
| 1914
|-
| Georgette Leblanc
| ''Maeterlinck's dogs''
| 1920
|-
| [[Maurice Leblanc]]
| ''[[The Exploits of Arsène Lupin]]''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''[[Arsène Lupin versus Holmlock Shears]]''
| 1909
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''813''
| 1910
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Frontier''
| 1912
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Confessions of Arsène Lupin''
| 1912
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''[[The Hollow Needle]]''
| 1913
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''[[The Crystal Stopper]]''
| 1913
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Teeth of the Tiger''
| 1915
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Bomb-Shell: 1914''
| 1916
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Golden Triangle''
| 1917
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''Coffin Island''
| 1920
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Eyes of Innocence'' (Original title: ''Le Roman d'une jeune fille'')
| 1920
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The secret of Sarek''
| 1920
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Three Eyes''
| 1921
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Eight Strokes of the Clock''
| 1922
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Tremendous Event''
| 1922
|-
| Maurice Leblanc
| ''The Secret Tomb''
| 1922
|-
| [[Gaston Leroux]]
| ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (novel)|The Phantom of the Opera]]''
| 1911
|-
| Gaston Leroux
| ''Balaoo''
| 1913
|-
| Jean Léonard
| ''Souvenirs of Léonard, hairdresser to Queen Marie-Antoinette''
| 1897
|-
| [[Maurice Maeterlinck]]
| ''Chrysanthemums and other essays''
| 1904
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Double Garden''
| 1904
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''"King Lear" in Paris''
| 1905
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''My Dog''
| 1906
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Old-fashioned flowers and other open-air essays''
| 1906
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Intelligence of the Flowers''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Life and Flowers''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Measure of the Hours''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''News of spring and other nature studies''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Joyzelle''
| 1907
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The leaf of olive''
| 1908
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''[[Mary Magdalene (1910 play)|Mary Magdalene]]''
| 1910
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''[[The Blue Bird (play)|The Blue Bird]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8606/8606-h/8606-h.htm#link2H_4_0001|title=The Blue Bird, by Maurice Maeterlinck|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>
| 1910 
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Death''
| 1911
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Hours of Gladness''
| 1912
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Our Eternity''
| 1913
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Our Friend the Dog''
| 1913
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Unknown Guest''
| 1914
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Life and letters''
| 1914
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Wrack of the Storm''
| 1916
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Light Beyond''
| 1917
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Burgomaster of Stilemonde''
| 1918
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Betrothal or the Blue Bird Chooses''
| 1918
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''The Miracle of Saint Anthony''
| 1918
|-
| Maurice Maeterlinck
| ''Mountain Paths''
| 1919
|-
| G. Hermine Marius
| ''Dutch painting in the nineteenth century''
| 1908
|-
| Eugénie de Coucy Oudinot
| ''Memoirs of Marshal Oudinot, duc de Reggio''
| 1896
|-
| Xavier Paoli
| ''My royal clients''
| 1911
|-
| [[Peter Rosegger]]
| ''The forest farm: tales of the Austrian Tyrol''
| 1912
|-
| [[Stijn Streuvels]]
| ''The Path of Life''
| 1915
|-
| [[Alexis de Tocqueville]]
| ''The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville''
| 1896
|-
| August Weissl
| ''The Mystery of the Green Car''
| 1913
|-
| [[Émile Zola]]
| ''The heirs of Rabourdin''
| 1894
|-
| Émile Zola
| ''[[La curée]]''
| 1895
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Ronald Breugelmans|nl}}, ''Louis Couperus in den vreemde'' (Leiden, 2008). Includes ten letters by Teixeira to the Dutch writer Louis Couperus.

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q1969016|n=no|s=author:Alexander Teixeira de Mattos|commons=category:Alexander Teixeira de Mattos|b=no|v=no|voy=no|mw=no|wikt=no|m=no}}
* {{gutenberg author| id=736| name=Alexander Teixeira de Mattos}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander|name=Alexander Teixeira de Mattos|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alexander Teixeira de Mattos}}
* {{Librivox author |id=6493}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander Louis}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1921 deaths]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism]]
[[Category:Dutch–English translators]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch journalists]]
[[Category:Dutch Sephardi Jews]]
[[Category:Dutch people of Portuguese-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Dutch Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:French–English translators]]
[[Category:Louis Couperus]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Leopold II]]
[[Category:Writers from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:19th-century Dutch journalists]]
[[Category:English people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:Dutch people of Portuguese descent]]