THIRTY-SECOND MEETING OF THE PIAC

The Thirty-Second Meeting of the PIAC was held in Oslo, Norway, June 12-16, under the presidency of Professor Bernt Brendemoen, under the joint sponsorship of the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities, the Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, and the University of Oslo.

The Indiana University Prize for Altaic Studies (the so-called PIAC Medal) was awarded to Professor Johannes Benzing, formerly of the University of Mainz, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Altaic linguistics.

Professor A.N.Baskakov, a stalwart supporter of the PIAC and one of its gold-medalists (1980) was unable to attend but sent an anthem of which he had composed both the words and the music (with the appropriate tempo marking: Andante maestoso).

Courageous attempts by the participants to actually sing the anthem faltered; clearly, not all PIAC members have the musical talent of Professor Baskakov. However, all present expressed their joy and their appreciation of this lovely gesture. The text and the music of the anthem are reproduced elsewhere in this Newsletter.

(Source: Permanent International Altaistic Conference Newsletter No. 19, February 1990, p. 3)