Hermine Kallista Kann (February 28, 1895 – March 23, 1983) was an Estonian linguist and teacher.
Early life and education
Kallista Kann was born in
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the daughter of the schoolteacher
Hans Kann
Hans Kann (born 14 February 1927 in Vienna; died 24 June 2005) was an Austrian pianist and composer. He taught music in his native Austria and in Japanese schools such as the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
He was the son of bus ...
(1849–1932) and Liisa Kann (née Pettai, 1856–1936). She was the sister of the music teacher
Salme Kann
Salme Kann (January 31, 1881 – October 26, 1957) was an Estonian voice teacher and choir director.
Early life and education
Salme Kann was born in Kanepi in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire, the daughter of the schoolteacher Hans Ka ...
. In 1913, she graduated from Tartu Pushkin High School for Girls, and she attended the university program for women in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.University of Tartu, graduating cum laude in 1932. From 1935 to 1936, she studied in Paris as a fellow of the French Research Institute of Tartu ( et, Tartu Prantsuse Teaduslik Instituut, french: l'Institut scientifique français de Tartu). In 1937, she defended her master's thesis ''La Place de l'Adjectif dans 'Erec et Enide' et 'Cligés' par Chrétien de Troyes'' (The Position of the Adjective in '' Érec et Énide'' and '' Cligès'' by
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
) at the University of Tartu and received a master's degree (recognized in 1946 as a doctoral degree in philology).
Career
From 1914 to 1925, Kann taught foreign languages in Ukraine and Georgia. From 1927 to 1935, during her university studies, she was the secretary of the French Research Institute of Tartu. From 1936 to 1944, she taught German and French at the
Tallinn French School
Tallinn French School or Tallinn French Lyceum ( et, Tallinna Prantsuse Lütseum), is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Tallinn, Estonia. It offers primary (years 1-9) and secondary education (years 10-12). Students perform consi ...
. From 1944 to 1945, she was the principal of Secondary School No. 4 in Tallinn (since 2006, Tallinn Kristiine High School).
From 1945 to 1949, she was a senior lecturer in the Department of Philology of Western European Nations (renamed the Department of Western European Languages in 1947) at Tartu State University. In 1949 she was named an associate professor, and she then taught the Department of Western European Languages from 1950 to 1952; in 1953 this was merged into the Department of Foreign Languages, where she taught from 1953 to 1961. From 1961 to 1963 she was head of the German Language Department, and from 1963 to 1966 an associate professor in the Department of German. She retired in 1966.
Her students included the poet and philosopher Jaan Kaplinski, the translator , the translator and editor , the translator , the translator and literary scholar , and the linguist and translator .
Bibliography
*1937: ''La Place de l'Adjectif dans 'Erec et Enide' et 'Cligés' par Chrétien de Troyes'' (master's thesis, University of Tartu)
*1949: ''Grammaire française avec exercices'' (Tartu: Teaduslik Kirjandus)
*1959: ''Prantsuse-eesti sõnaraamat'' (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus)
*1961: ''Saksa keele õpik 1'', with Felix Kibbermann and Gerda Raadi (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus)
*1961: ''Saksa keele õpik 2'' (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus)
*1964: ''Eesti-saksa sõnaraamat'', multiple contributors (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus)
*1964: ''Praktische deutsche Phonetik für Esten'', with Felix Kibbermann (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus)
*1966: ''Prantsuse keele õpik: kõrgematele õppeasutustele'' (Tallinn: Valgus)
*1966: ''Prantsuse keele õpik: manuel de français'' (Tallinn: Valgus)
*1979: ''Eesti-prantsuse sõnaraamat'', with Nora Kaplinski (Tallinn: Valgus)
*1979: ''Kirjad J. Silvetile'' (Tartu)