Peter John Mayo (16 February 1944, London - 1 January 2004) was an English

slavist Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was prim ...

and promoter of Belarusian studies in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Career

Mayo was born in London. He graduated from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

in 1966. From 1969 to 1997 he worked as a lecturer at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, and since 1998 at the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

. He was a member of the British University Association of Slavists (in 1978-80 its secretary). In 1982 Mayo earned a PhD in philology.

Belarusian studies

Mayo studied the lexicography, morphology and syntax of the Belarusian and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

languages. He authored "Grammar of the Byelorussian" reviewed in the

Journal of Belarusian Studies The ''Journal of Belarusian Studies'' (formerly the ''Journal of Byelorussian Studies'') is an English language academic journal in the field of Belarusian studies. It was described as “one of the longest lasting Belarusian publishing projects i ...

Shirin Akiner Shirin Akiner (16 June 1943 – 6 April 2019) was a scholar of Central Asia and Belarus. She was a research associate at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Life Shirin Akiner was born in 1943 in Dacca, British In ...

as well as section "Belarusian language" in the collective monograph "Slavic languages", numerous articles on Belarusian and Slavic studies. He also wrote reviews of Belarusian linguistic research, textbooks and dictionaries. In 1979-88 Mayo was the editor of the Journal of Byelorussian Studies, and from 1989 of the Slavic Section of “Modern Languages Studies”. He prepared an English-Belarusian dictionary, a version of which was published in Minsk in 1995 as "Pocket English-Belarusian-Russian Dictionary". Mayo was one of the editors of English-Belarusian Dictionary published in 2013. Mayo was a longtime member of the

Anglo-Belarusian Society The Anglo-Belarusian Society () is one of the oldest Belarus-related organisations in the UK with an object of “diffusion, interchange and publication of knowledge relating to the Belarusian people, their land, history and culture”. History ...

and a trustee of the

Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum (Belarusian: ; also referred to as Skaryna Library and ''Skarynaŭka'') in north London, England, is the only library outside Belarus to collect exclusively in the field of Belarusian studies. It wa ...

in London.

Death

Mayo died in April 2004. The University of Sheffield prize for Russian was renamed in his honour.

References

External links

Journal of Belarusian Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Peter John 1944 births 2004 deaths Slavists Belarus–United Kingdom relations Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Exeter