Stanislav Segert (May 4, 1921 – September 30, 2005) was a prominent scholar of

Semitic language The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew, Maltese, Modern South Arabian languages and numerous other ancient and modern languages. They are spoken by mo ...

s and one of the foremost authorities on North-West

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

Life

Born in

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, then

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, Segert began his studies at the Protestant Theological Faculty of

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

in 1939 while also signing up for courses at the Faculty of Arts. When later that year the

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occupation authorities closed down all universities, Stanislav Segert completed his studies in various illegal courses and in 1943, he was ordained as a chaplain of the Evangelical church of Czech Brethren. In 1945-1947, Segert pursued his graduate studies at the Faculty of Arts and was awarded a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Semitic and Classical philology and philosophy. Between 1945 and 1952 he was an assistant lecturer at the Protestant Theological Faculty, mostly teaching courses in

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and

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. In 1951, he started teaching at the Faculty of Arts and in 1952, he became a member of the Oriental Institute of the newly established Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1969, following the government repressions in the wake of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, he left for the United States where he became a Professor of North-West Semitic languages at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Works

* 1976: ''A Grammar of Phoenician and Punic''. Munich: Beck. * 1985: ''A Basic Grammar of Ugaritic Language''. Berkeley: University of California Press. * 1986: ''Altaramäische Grammatik: mit Bibliographie, Chrestomathie und Glossar'' (4. Auflage). Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie. .

References

A brief overview of his career in Czech

An obituary in Czech

Festschriften

''Sopher Mahir: Northwest Semitic Studies Presented to Stanislav Segert''. Edited by Edward M. Cook. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990 ( = ''Maarav: A Journal for the Study of the Northwest Semitic Languages and Literatures'', vols. 5-6, 1990). The volume includes a comprehensive bibliography of Segert's work up to the date of publication. 1921 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Czech people 20th-century linguists Linguists from the Czech Republic Czech orientalists Semiticists Ethiopianists Czech Hebraists American Hebraists Christian Hebraists Czech Lutherans Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Clergy from Prague Academic staff of Charles University {{Africanist-stub