[Bilimsel Haber] Türkolog Omeljan Pritsak (1919-2006)

[gonul at pultar.org]

Omeljan Pritsak (1919-2006)

With great sadness I must inform you that Prof. Dr. Omeljan Pritsak  
passed away on May 29, 2006. The 87 year old internationally known  
scholar died of heart failure at Massachusetts General Hospital in  
Boston. The renown scholar of Ukrainian studies, Omeljan Pritsak was  
professor of Turkology and linguistics at Harvard University from 1964  
to 1989. He was the co-founder of the Ukrainian Research Institute at  
Harvard, and was well known for raising millions of dollars from  
Ukrainian communities in North America to establish three chairs at  
Harvard University for Ukrainian studies. His motto, according to Dr.  
Lubomyr Hajda, associate director of the Ukrainian Institute, was "if  
it is impossible, let's do it!"

Professor Pritsak was always proud of being the last student of the  
well-known Ukrainian orientalist and historian A. Krimsky, the founder  
of the Institute of Oriental Studies in Kiev. After his retirement  
from Harvard University, Prof. Pritsak returned to Kiev and revived  
the Institute of Oriental Studies, which was closed during Stalin's  
reign, and became its first director.

He was one of the humblest academicians one can ever meet. He loved to  
converse in Turkish, and when he was honored by the Turkish Government  
for his contributions to Turkish studies, he delivered his acceptance  
speech in Turkish. Despite his busy schedule, Prof. Pritsak always  
found time to discuss the plight of Crimean Tatars,and always wanted  
to know how their struggle for repatriation was going. When Prof  
Pritsak reestablished the Institute of Oriental Studies in Kiev in  
1990, he made sure that a branch of the institute opened in Crimea to  
give Crimean Tatar students an opportunity to study there. Prof.  
Pritsak accepted to be my mentor and encouraged me to enroll in the  
Institute of Oriental Studies. He always introduced me as Talebem  
Mubeyyin [my student Mubeyyin], an honor I will cherish forever.

Omeljan Pritsak is survived by his second wife Larysa Pritsak, his  
daughter Irene Pritsak and his grandchildren Mishka and Lylina.

Prof. Pritsak's passing is indeed a great loss. It is a loss of a  
great friend, teacher and mentor, a loss of an extraordinary scholar  
and a loss of a great native son of Ukraine. I extend my deepest  
sympathy and condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and the  
Ukrainian people.

May he rest in peace forever!

Mubeyyin Batu Altan

Note: The Ukrainian Institute of Harvard will have a special memorial  
service in October 2006 at Harvard University to celebrate the life of  
this great scholar.




International Committee for Crimea News Digest
http://www.iccrimea.org/news/newsdigest5.html