A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Deutschland - Finnland - Irland. Der Linguist Ernst Lewy (1881 - 1966)
Authors: Holfter Gisela, Wagner Doris
Editors: Raitaniemi Mia, Acke Hanna, Helin Irmeli, Schlabach Joachim, Schmidt Christopher, Wagner Doris, Zichel-Wessalowski Jana
Conference name: Finnische Germanistentagung
Publishing place: Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Istanbul, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik
Book title : Die vielen Gesichter der Germanistik: Finnische Germanistentagung 2017
Series title: Finnische Beiträge zur Germanistik
Volume: 37
First page : 263
Last page: 275
ISBN: 978-3-631-76382-7
ISSN: 1436-6169
This contribution looks at the life, work and legacy of Ernst Lewy (1881–1966), the first professor of Finno-Ugric languages in Germany and first editor of the works of Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz. Of special interest here is his relationship with Finland and Finnish linguists such as Emil Öhmann, Yrjö Wichmann and Emil Nestor Setälä. After the Nazis forced him into retirement, Lewy was interested in emigrating to Finland (among
other destinations). However, this did not work out and instead he went to Ireland where he was eventually appointed Professor of the Royal Irish Academy and where he lived until the end of his life. The article also discusses his current standing in linguistics where he has been described as one of the most underrated figures in language typology.
