Kārlis Mīlenbahs | |
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| Born | (1853-01-18)18 January 1853 |
| Died | 27 March 1916(1916-03-27) (aged 63) |
| Occupation(s) | Lexicographer Philologist |
Kārlis Mīlenbahs (his surname was formerly also written asMühlenbach,Mühlenbachs,Mǖlenbachs orMīlenbachs) (18 January 1853 inCourland,Russian Empire – 27 March 1916 inVõru,Livonia,Russian Empire) was the first native speaker ofLatvian to devote his career to linguistics.
Mīlenbahs studied classicalphilology at theImperial University of Dorpat (he did not remain at the university because of his poverty). He worked as a school teacher in Jelgava and Latvia until the end of his life.[1][2]
He published his first magazine article in 1881; after 1890, he authored over a hundred scholarly articles on the language in Latvian,Russian, andGerman.[1]
He became the first chairman of the Orthography Commission at the Latvian Society's Science Union.[3]
His main achievement was the Latvian-German dictionary that remains the most important lexicographical work on Latvian.[4] The first four volumes were printed posthumously between 1923 and 1932 inRiga; the dictionary was completed and expanded byJānis Endzelīns, with whom Mīlenbahs co-wrote other works, including a major Latvian grammar.[4]
His polemics with the poetRainis led to an important essay on literary Latvian published in 1909. He was also a translator of part of theOdyssey (1890–95).[2][5]
He was married to Marija Kronberga and they had a son named Kārlis.[5]
TheKārlis Mīlenbahs Prize in applied Latvian linguistics is named after him.[6]
A high school inKandava is also named after him.[7]
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