Jerzy Bartmiński (19 September 1939 – 7 February 2022) was a Polish

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

Biography

Bartmiński was born on 19 September 1939 in

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

to a Polish family of Galician craftsmen. He moved to

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

in 1956, where he lived until his death in 2022. Bartmiński studied

Polish philology Polish studies, Polish philology or Polonistics (, or ''polonistyka'') is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates the Polish language and Polish literature in both historic and present-day forms. The history of Polish ...

and in 1971 earned his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, focusing his research on the language of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. As a young

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

at Lublin's Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, he established, together with his wife and children, one of the first groups of the home church Catholic renewal movement in Poland. In the 1980s, Bartmiński took part in anti-communist activities as a member of

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

and was a university leader of the movement in Lublin. He was repressed after martial law was declared in 1981. Later, Bartmiński was one of the founders of "Solidarity of Families" movement and foundation, focusing on reactivation of social bonds in post-communist society, support for poor families, and educational support for children. Bartmiński died in Lublin on 7 February 2022, at the age of 82.

Career

Bartmiński was member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and professor of Polish philology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. From 1976, he led the research team that has been reorganized as the Department of Textology and Grammar of Contemporary Polish Language. For several years, he had been the chairman of jury of folklore songs festival in

Kazimierz Dolny Kazimierz Dolny () is a small historic town in eastern Poland, on the right (eastern) bank of the Vistula river, from Lublin, in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship. Historically it belongs to Lesser Poland, and in the past it was one of the most i ...

, one of the largest events of this kind in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

. He was also a member of the

Polish Language Council The Council for the Polish Language ( Polish: ''Rada Języka Polskiego'') is the official language regulating organ of Polish. It was established by the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences pursuant to Resolution No. 17/96 of 9 September 1 ...

. He authored over 300 publications and books. One of his last books, ''Linguistic Bases of the Perception of the World'' (''Jezykowe podstawy obrazu swiata'', 2007), is considered to be among the most significant Polish publications in the disciplines of the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. His research interests focused on textology, linguistic

axiology Value theory, also called ''axiology'', studies the nature, sources, and types of values. It is a branch of philosophy and an interdisciplinary field closely associated with social sciences such as economics, sociology, anthropology, and psychol ...

and

ethnolinguistics Ethnolinguistics (sometimes called cultural linguistics) is an area of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship between a language or group of languages and the cultural practices of the people who speak those languages. It exam ...

References

External links

Author's Official University SiteEquinox Books Author/Editor Details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartminski, Jerzy 1939 births 2022 deaths Linguists from Poland Polish ethnologists Ethnolinguists Polish folklorists People from Przemyśl Members of the Polish Academy of Learning Maria Curie-Skłodowska University alumni Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis Recipients of the Oskar Kolberg Prize