A. Zajączkowski, Warszawa (November 12, 1903 — April 6, 1970)
Participation:
1st Meeting, 1958 (scheduled for participation, but could not attend)
2nd Meeting, 1959
3rd Meeting, 1960
4th Meeting, 1961
5th Meeting, 1962: Sur quelques termes turcs des modes d’orientation d’après un monument littéraire de la Horde d’Or
6th Meeting, 1963 (?)
7th Meeting, 1964: Das Pferd nach dem Arabisch-Kiptschakischen Glossar Ad-Durrat al-muḍīʾa fī-l-luġat at-turkiyya
8th Meeting, 1965 (?)
9th Meeting, 1966
10th Meeting, 1967
12th Meeting, 1969
IN MEMORIAM ANANIASZ ZAJACZKOWSKI (1903 – 1970)
It is a heavy and grievous task to announce Professor Ananiasz Zajączkowski’s sudden death: the eminent scholar and celebrated master of Turkic and Iranian studies died in Rome on April 6, 1970.
It seems superfluous to present his merits to the readers of this Newsletter and to the members of the PIAC: not only did he attend all sessions of our Conference but he also played an active and important role in its creation and its development. He was also a member of the selection committee for proposing candidates for the Indiana University Prize for Altaic Studies. As a faithful participant at many other international gatherings and as Chairman of the East-West Major Project of UNESCO in Poland, he unquestionably played a vital role in establishing closer collaboration between Orientalists from East and West.
This Newsletter is certainly not a very suitable place to write his formal obituary since it would be most difficult to characterize, in a few words, his personality and his achievements. But, at the same time, it is unthinkable that his death, which is a heavy loss for Altaic studies and for our Conference and a personal shock for many of us, should not be mourned here.
Professor A. Zajączkowski’s biographical and bibliographical sketches have appeared in journals, handbooks, and encyclopedias. A special tribute to his work was his 60th Birthday Anniversary Volume (Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher, Vol. 36,3-4).
We are able to recall here only some of the most important facts of his life. A. Zajączkowski was born in a family of Polish Karaims in Volno on November 12, 1903. He studied Near Eastern philology at the Yagellonian University in Cracow, where he was a Student of Professor T. Kowalski. After receiving his Doctor of Arts degree, he deepened his knowledge, in 1929-33, by attending Professor W. Bang-Kaup’s seminars in Berlin. In 1933 he qualified himself as assistant Professor (Dozent) and in 1935 he was appointed Professor of Turkish at the University of Warsaw. In 1934 he became a full Professor at the same university. At the same time, he was a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, head of its Research Center for Oriental Studies Committee (Komitet Nauk Orientalistycznych). For a number of years he was also Chairman of the Polish Oriental Society and editor of such Journals as Mysl Karaimska, Przeglad Orientalistyczny and Rocznik Orientalistyczny. He received three honorary Doctor of Letters degrees (Berlin’s Humboldt University, Tbilisi, Manchester) and many other honors and decorations. Professor A. Zajączkowski was one of the greatest authorities in the field of Old Ottoman and languages of the Kipchak group. Much appreciated are his publications of texts, glossaries, and grammatical sketches. His works are durable contributions to the world of science and to Altaic studies.
He was buried in the small Karaim cemetery in Warsaw on April 15, 1970. Peace to his memory.
(Source: Permanent International Altaistic Conference Newsletter No. 6, April 1971, p. 3)