Jonas Zemvaldas Balkevičius

ACTA LINGUISTICA LITHUANICA XLIV (2001), 259-260 IN MEMORIAM JONAS ZEMVALDAS BALKEVICIUS 1923 04 20 — 2000 12 08 SqzZiningiausi so and get lost —to feel the words and between you to look for the connection or to feel the connection and to look for words? (Donaldas Kajokas) These two senses — word and connection — and the searches related to them, which often determine a person’s professional choice, were also companions of the famous Lithuanian syntaxist and lexicographer Jonas Balkevičius. The artistic and aristocratic nature of their ruler hid from the ancients the existence of possible personal problems, and sensitivity and respect for others, the ability to communicate, testified to a sensed and named connection not only between words. Jonas Balkevičius wrote two books on syntax — Syntax of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language (1963) and Syntax of the Predicate Constructions of the Lithuanian Language (1998) — which marked the path of his theoretical researches, published articles on the syntax of Lithuanian and Latvian languages and on Lithuanian language culture, prepared teaching materials for secondary schools. He was one of the authors of the Latvian-Lithuanian dictionary (Vilnius, 1977), special editor of the Lithuanian- -Latvian dictionary (Riga, 1964) compiled by Apolonija Bojate and Valteris Subatnieks, and the author of the Lithuanian- -Latvian dictionary (Riga, 1995) with Laimute Balode, Apolonija Bojate, Valteris Subatnieks and Alberts Sarkanis; for the latter two dictionaries he also wrote a short grammar of Lithuanian language; published an outline of the Latvian language (Gimtasis vārds, 1993, No.1—11) for self-study. He was a translator of Latvian fiction and an official translator of Lithuanian state delegations. From his youth he studied, taught and directed in 1942/43 in Nereta, 1943/44 in Alizava, 1944—49 in Kaunas 9th Secondary School; 1949-56 worked as deputy director of Kaunas Pedagogical School; 1960-94 worked at Vilnius University: 1963 defended dissertation 260 | IN MEMORIAM thesis, since 1966 lecturer; 1964-68 History and Philology, 1968-75 Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philology, 1979-84 Dean (famed as an inventive organizer of celebrations and events). This would be a summary of works and pedagogical activities, telling about the fields of work, diligence, abilities. The memory recalls Jon Balkevičius as an excellent orator — those who listened to his lectures (“Syntax of the Contemporary Lithuanian Language”, “Features of the Structure of Word Combinations”, “Punctuation of the Lithuanian Language”, “Fundamentals of Rhetoric”) also received lessons in good diction and the art of rhetoric. The character of the actor and the talent of the teacher – methodical presentation of material, logical thinking, ability to attract and manage the audience – were combined with the simplicity of individual communication. The main rule of His collegial communication: sincerity and respectful distance. After creating the image of a charming Professor, Jonas Balkevičius did not receive any angry student gossip. Maybe because he didn't make fun of himself. Not to silence, but to speak—that was His style of communicating. He did not like to play the role of a writer, editor or stubborn critic — this encouraged students to discover, prove or err on their own. Death is a painfully acquired wealth, associated with the fear that you will no longer say what you could have said—you have only felt a connection and have sought words for it, but have not found them in time or have not dared to say it. When we lose our loved ones, we comfort ourselves that we are rich in their memory. As long as we remember, we feel alive ourselves. Time does not seem to us to be an all-powerful thief — it is able to take away, hide, dust what matters to everyday life. After losing our teachers, we can only touch the watercolor of memory, because we no longer have the power to make an accurate portrait print — in the past we paid too little attention to various details. “School” dreams (when you are no longer a student, but the present problems borrow the face of some teacher or lecturer and threatening school situation) unfortunately will not improve the portrait of Jon Balkevičius on my memory card — there are no needles poisoned with fear: The teacher you were not afraid of, has almost no chance to come into the dream. Jūratė Pajėdienė