A few years ago, in preparing a seminar on the legal terminology of Company Law, I found out a few fascinating legal translation-related stories. In fact, these stories created a link between, among other things, tulips, bears, ships and finance and business.
For instance, did you know that the first Italian hotel, called Orso Grigio [Grey Bear] was established in Trentino as early as 1300? And it is actually still open, although I cannot write a review because I’ve never been there (unfortunately!).
Whereas, the first financial crisis, or economic bubble dates back to around 1637, and was related to tulips, which gives it a seemingly romantic tone – not for the investors of the time though: many lives were ruined in just a few days.
Still Life with Flowers by Hans
Bollongier
(1623–1672) painted in 1639 showcasing the prized Semper Augustus tulip.
Anonymous 17th-century watercolor
of the Semper Augustus, famous for being the most expensive tulip sold during tulip mania.
Pamphlet from the Dutch tulipomania, printed in 1637
Law is full of fascinating anecdotes: stay tuned for more legal translation-related stories!
Of course, there are a lot of linguistic issues translators will have to deal with in company law: by-laws or articles of association for “statuto”? And what about “Atto costitutivo”? And then we have “Amministratore Delegato”, and the relevant vexata quaestio: “Managing director”? CEO? But isn’t the CEO a “Direttore Generale”? I theory, MD is UK English; CEO is US English. BUT. In Italian companies, an “Amministratore Delegato” is always a member of the Board of Directors, whereas a CEO “may” sit on a board, and usually does (see for instance here) , but it is not a rule without exceptions. A CEO may be the “President” of the Company, which is not, in the US, the same as a “Chairman”. And so on, and so on…
This post is part of the Legal Translation categories. I’ll try to add new articles every week.
English (UK) 
Italiano