Personal Profile

My name is Hugo Carnevali, and I live in Caracas. I’m a Venezuelan by birth and, for reasons of my father’s profession, who was a diplomat in the Venezuelan Foreign Service, in my youth I had the opportunity to travel extensively, especially in Latin America. As a consequence, I have LIVED in the following countries: Dominican Republic, Colombia, the United States of America, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and, of course, in Venezuela. For short periods I have visited Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Panama and Mexico, having also traveled to Portugal, Germany, France, Austria and Canada.

I am highly fluent in Spanish, my native tongue, English and Portuguese, and I have basic knowledge of French, Italian and German.

As to my formal education, I finished my high school studies at an international school in Switzerland, followed by a career in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, in the USA. Having moved to New York City, I undertook studies in Commercial and Industrial Photography. In spite of my scientific and technical training, work opportunities opened that took advantage of my multi-cultural education and the languages learned during my youth. In 1965 I joined the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG), a government organization charged with the development of the southeastern region of the country, as Assistant to the Public Relations Manager. In 1970 I was named Public Relations Manager, reporting directly to the President. In 1979 I was named Public Relations Manager for SIDOR Steel Plant, a government-owned steel-smelting plant with 22,000 workers, located in Ciudad Guayana. In 1981 I was named Head of the Human Resources Department, later Personnel Vice-president, and then Secretary to the Board of Directors.

While I studied engineering in the United States, I had the opportunity to work as a freelance simultaneous interpreter for the Department of State, being trained and approved by the staff of White House interpreters. From 1962 to the present date I’ve had the opportunity to serve as simultaneous interpreter for many events and congresses. I have also translated numerous technical documents from English to Spanish and vice-versa.

In recent years I have been very active in the editorial field, having helped different authors in the preparation, illustration, edition and printing of their works.

As to my personal skills, I am a language perfectionist, especially in English and Spanish. My dominant hobby is reading, preferably literature and other materials referred to the correct use of languages.

Since languages are very much subject to localization, although the mother tongue is basically the same from one country to the other, colloquialisms and other subtleties make it necessary to adapt translations according to the target reader. In my case, having traveled extensively throughout Spanish-speaking countries, my language output is a very universal form of the Spanish language, understandable worldwide.

Should I be considered for a translation job, I would very much appreciate receiving samples of the materials to be translated into Spanish.

Thank you.