Collice Portnoff

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American educator, editor and author, a legendary figure in Arizona. She was the former Arizona Republic Books editor and retired chairwoman of Arizona State University's English department. Portnoff earned a B.A. and Masters from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from Stanford in the early 20th century. She moved to Arizona in 1931 where she joined the University faculty. During WW II she worked as a cryptanalyst in Italian for the Army Signal Corps; later, as a civilian, she translated French and was the official translator for Spanish authors Gregorio and Maria Martinez Sierra. In 1957, she co-wrote a play, "Naked Came I." Retiring as a translator in 1969, she joined The Republic as a book-review editor, working through the mid-'70s. Her husband George escaped the Russian revolution, Spending ten years in Spain as pals with Picasso, Segovia, de Falla, Miro, and Dali. He came to the U.S. in 1929, after when they married; one daughter. Portnoff died at 94, 5/07/1993, Scottsdale, AZ.