Zara Grigoryevna Mints (russian: Зара Григорьевна Минц; July 24, 1927 – October 25, 1990) was a Slavic literary scientist active in the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. She was the wife of

Juri Lotman Juri Lotman (russian: Ю́рий Миха́йлович Ло́тман; 28 February 1922 – 28 October 1993) was a prominent Russian-Estonian literary scholar, semiotician, and historian of Russian culture, who worked at the University of Tart ...

. Mints was born in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

, but the family soon moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Her mother Frida Abramovna Sinderikhina (1889?–1939) was a stomatologist, father Girsh Yefremovich Mints was an administrator of

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

Sanitary Inspection facility. She went to high school 1935–1941 in Leningrad, was evacuated to

Yaroslavl Oblast Yaroslavl Oblast (russian: Яросла́вская о́бласть, ''Yaroslavskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma ...

and later to

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She entered

Leningrad University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

in 1944. Already during her student years, she began to specialize in

Aleksandr Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

's works. Although she graduated ''cum laude'', she couldn't start the postgraduate studies due to the anti-semitic campaign of the late 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s. Initially working as a Russian teacher, she went to Tartu with her husband (they had married in 1951), where she could start her career as a university lecturer. From 1955, she worked at the department of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were c ...

. Mints became a professor in 1979. On 21 November 1972 she defended her

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

's thesis (''Aleksandr Blok i russkaja realisticheskaja literatura XIX veka'' – ''Aleksandr Blok and Russian Realist Literature of the 19th Century''), but the All-Union Higher Assessment Commission did not give her the degree until five years later. Mints' courses chiefly covered the Russian literature of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century (Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Blok, e.g. connections between Blok's works and the general cultorological questions). Yuri Lotman and Zara Minc grave

Mints took actively part in collecting Blok's literary heritage and publishing the monograph ''Aleksandr Blok: Novye materialy i issledovanija'' – ''A.B.: New Materials and studies'', 5 Volumes, Moscow 1980–1987. She died in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, Italy.

Bibliography

* Лавров А. В. Александр Блок в трудах и днях З. Г. Минц // Минц З. Г. Блок и русский символизм: избранные труды: в трех книгах. �. 2 Александр Блок и русские писатели. Санкт-Петербург, 2000. С. 7–20.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mints, Zara 1927 births 1990 deaths Soviet philologists Women philologists Women linguists Soviet Jews People from Pskov Writers from Saint Petersburg Academic staff of the University of Tartu Burials at Raadi cemetery 20th-century philologists

See also

Bibliography

References