Yevgeny Dmitrievich Polivanov

Yevgeny D. Polivanov

Yevgeny Polivanov ( Russian Евгений Дмитриевич Поливанов , pronunciation: [ jɪvɡʲeˑnʲɪj dmʲiˑtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtʃʲ pɐlʲɪvaˑnɐf ] * Feb. 28 ^{. Jul} / 12. March  1891 ^{. Greg} in Smolensk ; † 25. January 1938 in Moscow ) was a Russian and Soviet linguist , orientalist and Literary scholar .

biography

During the Russian Revolution of 1917 Polivanov was first active with the Mensheviks , but then joined the Bolsheviks . From 1917 to 1918 he worked in the Orient Department of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (Narkomindel) and in 1921 in the Communist International ( Comintern ).

In 1921 Poliwanow married the Estonian Brigitta Alfredowna Nirk.

In 1928/1929 Poliwanow criticized Nikolaj Ja. Marr's " Japhetite Theory ", after which he became an outsider in academic circles in Moscow and Leningrad and went to Central Asia, where he dealt with the local languages.

Polivanov while in custody

On August 16, 1937, during the " Great Purge, " Polivanov was arrested and charged with spying on Japan . His wife went to Central Asia in November and was arrested there too. On January 25, 1938, Polivanov was sentenced to death and shot near Moscow. His wife was sentenced to ten years in camp as an "agent of the Polish secret service" and died on July 1, 1946 in Kargopol.

Polivanov was rehabilitated in 1963, as was his wife in 1989.

meaning

Polivanov wrote important writings on the Japanese , Chinese , Uzbek and Dungan languages as well as on general linguistics . He was involved in the development of written languages and alphabets for previously scriptless peoples of the Soviet Union. He is considered to be the founder of the systematic research into the musical accent of Japanese dialects, and his system for transcribing Japanese using the Cyrillic script is still the standard Russian transcription for Japanese to this day. He translated the Kyrgyz epic Manas into Russian.

literature

• М. В. Горбаневский: Судьба гения. Е. Д. Поливанов - 100-летие со дня рождения. In: Русский язык в СССР. 8: 25-31 (1991).
• В. Г. Ларцев: Евгений Дмитриевич Поливанов. Страницы жизни и деятельности . Moscow: Наука, 1988.
• А. А. Леонтьев: Евгений Дмитриевич Поливанов и его вклад в общее языкознание . Moscow: 1983.

Web links

Commons : Yevgeny Polivanov  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Е. Д. Поливанов . Люди и судьбы .
• Е. Д. Поливанов . Архив петербургской русистики .