Antons Breidaks

ACTA LINGUISTICA LITHUANICA X L V I (2 0 0 2), 2 4 9 – 2 5 3 I N M E M O R I A M Antons Breidaks 1932 01 25 – 2002 02 24 In independent Latvia, Latgalian linguistics and culture, which are recovering ever more strongly, are suffering painful blows of fate. Only shortly before her death did Antonina Reķēna manage to see the magnum opus of her life, Kalupes izloksnes vārdnīca. As if deliberately coming home to die, Professor Valdis Zeps of the University of Wisconsin arrived from the United States of America. The remains of Jezups Lelio, a Harvard alumnus and professor, have already returned to his native Latgale. We have not yet forgotten the tragedy of the Polish linguist Stanisław Franciszek Kołbuszewski. On February 24 of this year, Antons Breidaks, the most active worker in Latgalian linguistics in recent decades, departed for the “otherworld,” as Latvians would say. It is especially sad that all those mentioned here left their beloved field of linguistics too soon. Antons Breidaks was born on January 25, 1932, in the village of Malžubas, Pilda parish, Ludza district, in the lake-dotted corner of eastern Latvia. In 1951 he graduated from Ludza Secondary School. At school, he especially liked chemistry and physics. However, tuberculosis contracted in childhood led him to choose the “easier” field of study—philology. From 1951 to 1956, he studied Latvian language and literature at the University of Latvia in Riga. In truth, he was initially more interested in literature, but soon plunged headlong into linguistics. He became particularly well known for his much-debated course paper, Pildas izloksne. In this paper, he first began to set out his “rebellious” ideas about the history of the Latgalian dialects. From 1956 to 1967, A. Breidaks taught not far from his birthplace, in Aglona, the old center of Latvian Catholicism. From 1967 to 1980, he was a research associate at the Institute of Language and Literature of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. While working there, A. Breidaks defended his Candidate of Sciences dissertation, Augšzemnieku dialect Latgalian subdialects: dialectal vocabulary and its historical connections. 250 | IN MEMORIAM From 1981 to 1983, A. Breidaks worked at the publishing house of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, “Zinātne.” From 1983 to 1987, he taught at the Daugavpils Pedagogical Institute (becoming an associate professor in 1986). From 1987 to 1993, he taught at the University of Latvia. In 1990, he defended his habilitation dissertation at Vilnius University, The Phonetics of Latgalian Dialects of the Latvian Language: Diachrony and Synchrony. In 1992, A. Breidak was awarded the title of professor. In 1993, he returned to his native Latgale, where he held a professorship at the Rēzekne Higher Education Institution until 1995. From 1995, he worked at the Institute of Latvian Language and Daugavpils Pedagogical University (formerly the Daugavpils Pedagogical Institute). After a serious illness, he died in Riga and returned once more to Latgale, this time forever. His parents’ graves received their son’s urn (Ludza District, Isnauda Parish, Apliūžņi Cemetery). A. Breidaks was a hardworking linguist and a seeker of truth who deferred to no authorities. Perhaps he did not manage to find that truth everywhere, but he enriched Latvian linguistics, especially the history of Latgalian dialects, with significant research.¹ Besides numerous articles published in Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, and Bulgarian publications, he wrote a popular booklet, “The Origin of Language” (Valodas izcelšanās, Riga, 1981). He also published a separate booklet, A Phonetic Atlas of the Latgalian Dialects of the Augšzemnieki Dialect (Augšzemnieku dialekta latgalisko izloksņu fonētikas atlants, Daugavpils, 1996). A. Breidak’s last major work was An Introduction to Baltic Linguistics (Ievads baltu valodniecībā, Daugavpils, 1998–1999, I–II). Perhaps what most distinguishes A. Breidak’s book from earlier publications of a similar nature is its extensive use of archaeological research. This new work also draws on studies by the anthropologist Raisa Denisova. The linguist sought to synthesize his earlier research here as well. In 1981, he had published a popular booklet, The Origin of Language (Valodas izcelšanās). Over the past decade, A. Breidaks published a considerable number of articles in Latgalian periodicals. The author of this article first met A. Breidaks in the spring of 1953 at a student research conference held at the University of Latvia. Marta Rudzīte, then a young lecturer at the University of Latvia, introduced the second-year student Anton Breidaks to the future Vilnius University professor Jonas Kazlauskas (1930–1970) and the author of this article. Even then, A. Breidaks stood out among his fellow students for his linguistic erudition, independent thinking, and love of his chosen field. His life was not easy. Let this stanza from the Latgalian-language poem Latgaļu raksteiba (“Latgalian Writing”), written by the Latvian poet Anna Rancāne and dedicated to Anton Breidak in 1987, serve as a reminder: Latgalian writing: a beginning in a homestead, there where stone rests upon stone... 1Cf. Dr. habil. philol. Antons Breidaks. Bibliografija. Comp. I. Jansone. Riga, 2002. This publication also includes A. Stafecka’s article Valodniecībai ziedots mūžs, pp. 3–7; cf. also Ruža, V., In memoriam Antons Breidaks, Daugavpils universitāte. Humanitāro zinātņu vēstnesis, 2002 (1), 124–126. IN MEMORIAM | 251 Well, stone upon stone will remain; words gathered from tree branches, from beneath the turf, will be put together into a song, and the ancestral language will rejoice, orphaned and scorned—an old, long-forgotten pain rises from the depths. (Literature and Art, 1987 03 13)2. Antons Breidaks will no longer rejoice in his ancestral language or weave words into a song. Algirdas Sabaliauskas OLEGAS TRUBAČIOVAS 1930 10 23 – 2002 03 09 Russian Slavic studies has suffered a grievous blow: after a serious illness, one of its most distinguished representatives, Olegas Trubačiovas, a gifted scholar who left a clear mark on the study of the Baltic languages as well, has died. O. Trubačiovas was born on October 23, 1930, in Volgograd. After graduating from Dniepropetrovsk University in 1952, he studied in the postgraduate program at Moscow State University named after M. Lomonosov from 1952 to 1955 (supervisor: S. B. Bernstein). From 1955 to 1961, he worked at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. From 1961 until his death, O. Trubačiovas’s principal scholarly work was associated with the Institute of the Russian Language. 2