Julius Pokorny (12 June 1887 – 8 April 1970) was an Austrian-Czech linguist and scholar of the

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edwar ...

, particularly Irish, and a supporter of

Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.

Early life and education

He was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Bohemia, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he was educated at the

Piarist The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

School in Prague and the

Benedictine Abbey , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

school in

Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys o ...

, Austria. From 1905 until 1911, he studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

, graduating in law and philology, and he taught there from 1913 to 1920.

Career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Pokorny was involved in pro-German propagandist activities, inciting the Irish against England. He is known to have met and corresponded with

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

, an activist for Irish independence who was executed in 1916. Pokorny also served in the war as a reservist in the Austrian ( Cisleithanian) Army starting in 1916. In 1920, he succeeded

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brother ...

as Chair of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. Although baptised Catholic at birth and being sympathetic to German nationalism, he was suspended in 1933 under the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, because of his

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish ancestry. He was reinstated later that year under the exemption for those who had worn the uniform of Germany or its allies in World War I, which had been insisted on by President

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...

before he signed the bill into law. In 1935, he was dismissed under the provisions of the racist

Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of ...

; this led to his replacement as the Berlin Chair for Celtic studies by . He continued to live more or less openly in Berlin until at least 1939, but lived a shadowy existence there from around 1940. He escaped to Switzerland in 1943, where he taught for a few years at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

and at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

until his retirement in 1959. In 1954, he received an honorary professorship at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he taught part-time in 1956 and again from 1960 to 1965. He was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Wales at Swansea in 1965 and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

in 1967.

Death

He died in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

in 1970, almost three weeks after being hit by a tram not far from his home.

Scholarship

He was the editor of the journal of philological studies ''

Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie The ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' is an academic journal of Celtic studies, which was established in 1897 by the German scholars Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern.Busse, Peter E. "''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie''." In ''Ce ...

'' from 1921 until forced out by the Nazis in 1939, and was responsible for reviving it in 1954. He continued to edit it until his death in 1970. He is the author of the ''

Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch The ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'' (''IEW''; "Indo-European Etymological Dictionary") was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny. It is an updated and slimmed-down ...

'' (''Indo-European Etymological Dictionary''; 1959), which was a central text in its time. He also published several collections of Irish writing in German translation, and a thoroughly pro-nationalist history of Ireland in 1916, which appeared in English translation in 1933. Pokorny was a dedicated supporter of the

Pan-Illyrian theory Pan-Illyrian theories were proposed in the first half the twentieth century by philologists who thought that traces of Illyrian languages could be found in several parts of Europe, outside the Balkan area. First attempt Pan-Illyrism had both archa ...

and located the Illyrian civilisation's ''Urheimat'' between the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

and the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

and east from that region where migration began around 2400 BC. Pokorny suggested that Illyrian elements were to be found in much of continental Europe and also in Britain and Ireland. His '' Illyromania'' derived in part from archaeological '' Germanomania'' and was supported by contemporary place-names specialists such as

Max Vasmer Max Julius Friedrich Vasmer (; russian: Максимилиан Романович Фа́смер, translit=Maksimilian Romanovič Fásmer; 28 February 1886 – 30 November 1962) was a Russo-German linguist. He studied problems of etymology in I ...

(1928, 1929) and

Hans Krahe Hans Krahe (7 February 1898 – 25 June 1965) was a German philologist and linguist, specializing over many decades in the Illyrian languages. He was born in Gelsenkirchen. Work Between 1936 and 1946 he was a professor at the University of W ...

(1929, 1935, 1940).Krahe, Hans. ''Lexikon altillyrischer Personennamen'' (Dictionary of Old Illyrian personal names) (1929).

Works

; Books * ''Der Ursprung der Arthursage''. Vienna: Anthropologische Gesellschaft, 1909. * ''A Concise Old Irish Grammar and Reader''.

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

: Max Niemeyer; Dublin: Hodges/Figgis, 1914. * ''Irland''.

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

: F.A. Perthes, 1916 (Perthes' kleine Völker- und Länderkunde 1). ** English translation: ''A History of Ireland'', trans. Séana D King. London: Longmans; NY: Green and Co., 1933. * ''Die älteste Lyrik der grünen Insel''. Halle: M. Niemeyer, 1923. * ''A Historical Reader of Old Irish: Texts, Paradigms, Notes, and a Complete Glossary''. Halle: M. Niemeyer (reprint: New York: AMS, 1985). * ''Altirische Grammatik''. Berlin–Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter, 1925. *

Alois Walde Alois Walde (November 30, 1869 – October 3, 1924) was an Austrian linguist. Alois Walde studied classical philology and comparative linguistics at the University of Innsbruck where he was awarded a PhD in 1894. The year after, he became a st ...

, ''Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen'', 3 vols. Edited and supplemented by Julius Pokorny. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1927–1932 (reprint: 1973, ). * ''Zur Urgeschichte der Kelten und Illyrier''. Halle: M. Niemeyer, 1938. * ''Altkeltische Dichtungen: Aus dem Irisch-Gälischen und Cymrischen übertragen und eingeleitet''. Bern: A. Francke, 1944. * with Vittore Pisani, ''Allgemeine und vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft: Indogermanistik. Keltologie''. Bern: A. Francke, 1953. * ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'', 2 vols. Tübingen–Bern–Munich: A. Francke, 1957/1969 (1st edn.), 2005 (5th edn.). ; Articles * “Der Gral in Irland und die mythischen Grundlagen der Gralsage”, ''Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien'' 62 (1912): 1–15. * “Erschienene Schriften: Rudolf Thurneysen, Zu irischen Handschriften und Literaturdenkmälern”, ''

'' (ZCP) 9 (1913): 184–6. * “Die englische Herrschaft in Irland”, ''Petermanns Mitteilungen'' 62 (1916): 361–65, 409–12. * “Der irische Aufstand von 1798”, ''Irische Blätter'' 4 (1916): 331–340. * “Rasse und Volk in Irland”, ''Irische Blätter'' 7 (1917): 524–528. * “Beiträge zur ältesten Geschichte Irlands. 1. Die Fir Bolg, die Urbevölkerung Irlands”, ''ZCP'' 11 (1916–17): 189–204. * “Beiträge zur ältesten Geschichte Irlands. 2. Der gae bolga und die nördliche, nicht-iberische Urbevölkerung der Britischen Inseln”, ''ZCP'' 12 (1918): 195–231. * “Beiträge zur ältesten Geschichte Irlands. 3. Érainn, Dárin(n)e und die Iverni und Darini des Ptolemäus”, ''ZCP'' 12 (1918): 323–357. * “Zu Morands Fürstenspiegel”, ''ZCP'' 13 (1921): 43–6. * “Das nichtindogermanische Substrat im Irischen”, ''ZCP'' 16 (1927): 95–144, 231–66, 363–94; 17 (1928): 373–88; 18 (1930): 233–48. * “Substrattheorie und Urheimat der Indogermanen”, ''Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien'' 66 (1936): 69–91. * “Zum nichtindogermanischen Substrat im Inselkeltischen”, ''

Die Sprache ''Die Sprache'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1949. It contains articles on historical and comparative linguistics, especially of Indo-European languages. The main focus is on comparative grammar and etymology, bu ...

'' 1 (1949): 235–45. * “Die Geographie Irland bei Ptolemaios”, ''ZCP'' 24 (1954): 94–120. *“Keltische Urgeschichte und Sprachwissenschaft”, ''

'' 5 (1959): 152–64. * “The Pre-Celtic Inhabitants of Ireland”, '' Celtica'' 5 (1960): 229–40.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * *

External links

Bibliography of the Scientific Publications of Julius Pokorny

Book announcement for Pól Ó Dochartaigh, ''Julius Pokorny, 1887–1970: Germans, Celts and nationalism''Mentioned in James Joyce's ''Ulysses''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokorny, Julius 1887 births 1970 deaths Linguists from the Czech Republic Linguists from Austria Linguists from Switzerland Celtic studies scholars Linguists of Indo-European languages Etymologists Austro-Hungarian Jews Austrian expatriates in Switzerland Austrian expatriates in Germany Czech expatriates in Germany Writers from Prague Pedestrian road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Switzerland Jewish scholars 20th-century linguists