Kai Donner

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Kai Donner on his expedition to Siberia in 1913.

Kai Donner , actually Karl Reinhold Donner (born April 1, 1888 in Helsinki ; † February 12, 1935 there ), was a Finnish linguist, ethnologist and politician. He was one of the founders of Finno-Ugric and Samoyed studies .

youth

Kai Donner (actually Karl Reinhold Donner) was born into a respected family of Helsinki professors. His father, Senator Otto Donner , was professor of Sanskrit and comparative linguistics at the University of Helsinki from 1875 to 1903 , a researcher to Siberia and Mongolia and in 1883 one of the founders of the Finno-Ugric Society.

Ural Studies

Kai Donner studied languages ​​and ethnography in Helsinki and from 1908 in Budapest and later in Cambridge . Early on he dedicated himself to researching the Uralic languages . From 1911 to 1913 and 1914 he was involved in two linguistic and ethnographic expeditions to Siberia, including to the Nenets .

Kai Donner advocated the separation of Finland from tsarist rule even before the First World War . From 1916 to 1918 he had to live in exile in Sweden and Germany because of the recruitment of Finnish separatists . During the Finnish Civil War he was active on the side of the commoners (" whites ") and served, among other things, as adjutant to the Commander-in-Chief , General Mannerheim .

From 1924 Donner was a lecturer in Ural Studies at the University of Helsinki. His research on Selkupic and Kamassian was particularly groundbreaking . In the 1920s and 1930s he was an influential member of the right-wing Lapua movement . Donner, himself a Finnish Swede, also campaigned for the recognition of Swedish in the Finnish state.

Private life

Kai Donner was the father of the Finnish writer, film producer and politician Jörn Donner .

Main publications

  • "A Samoyede Epic". Helsinki, 1913
  • "With the Samoyed in Siberia". Stuttgart, 1926
  • "Samoyed Vocabulary". Helsinki, 1932 (= Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituksia 64)
  • "Ethnological Notes about the Yenisey-Ostyak (in the Turukhansk Region)". Helsinki, 1933 (= Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituksia 66)
  • Joki, AJ (Ed.): "Kai Donner's Kammasisches Dictionary including language samples and main features of grammar". Helsinki, 1944 (= Lexica Societatis Fenno-Ugricae VIII)
  • “La Sibérie: La vie en Sibérie — Les temps anciens. L'espèce humaine ”, Volume 6. Paris, 1946
  • "Ketica: materials from the Ketian or Yeniseiostyak". Helsinki, 1955 (= Suomalais-ugrilaisen seuran toimituksia 108)
  • Alatalo, Jarmo: “Sölkupic dictionary from notes by Kai Donner, UT Sirelius and Jarmo Alatalo”. 2004

Web links

Wikisource: Kai Donner  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Donner, Kai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Donner, Karl Reinhold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish linguist
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 1935
Place of death Helsinki