Vladimir Karlovich Myuller (or Müller, russian: Владимир Карлович Мюллер; 24 May 1880 – December 1941) was a Russian linguist and lexicographer. Müller held a professorial degree and compiled the most popular English–Russian dictionary, which saw numerous reeditions (some containing about 70,000 words and expressions). Müller was also an expert on medieval

dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the Representation (arts), representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The term first appears in the eponymous work ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' (1767–69) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing ...

, particularly on William Shakespeare. He published ''The Drama and Theatre of Shakespear's Epoch'' (1925) and lectured Shakespeariana to

Dmitry Likhachov Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov (russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Лихачёв, also ''Dmitri Likhachev'' or ''Likhachyov''; – 30 September 1999) was a Russian medievalist, linguist, and a former inmate of Gulag. During his lifet ...

Life

Müller was born in Moscow, his father was a Baltic German from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

. Upon graduation from Moscow State University, Müller continued studies in Oxford and London. In 1918, Müller became a Professor and lectured at various institutions. He was described as "sincere opponent of German militarism" by his student and noted scholar Igor Diakonov. Around 1915 Müller married Aleksandra Petrovna Gneusheva. In the 1920s Müller wrote multiple articles on English literature for '' Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary'', '' Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' and '' Literature Encyclopedia''. According to Diakonov, Müller saw the cause of transition from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

to Middle English and the loss of external grammatical flexion in the plague epidemic of the 14th century. In 1926 Müller moved with his wife to Saint Petersburg. In the following year he began working on English dictionaries, together with Semyon Boyanus. The exact date of Müller's death is unknown. It is believed that both Vladimir Müller and his wife died during the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

in 1941. Müller's wife was an art scholar and worked in the

National Library of Russia The National Library of Russia (NLR, russian: Российская национальная библиотека}), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked amo ...

References

1880 births 1941 deaths Lexicographers from the Russian Empire Linguists from the Russian Empire Scholars of English literature Shakespearean scholars Writers from Moscow Moscow State University alumni Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Expatriates from the Russian Empire in the United Kingdom Philologists from the Russian Empire Linguists from the Soviet Union Soviet philologists Victims of the Siege of Leningrad Soviet lexicographers {{Philology-stub