In memoriam Kazys Pakalka (1928–2009)

A. SABALIAUSKAS. In memoriam Kazys Pakalka 355 PERSONNEL ALGIRDAS SABALIAUSKAS Institute of Lithuanian Language IN MEMORIAM KAZYS PAKALKA (1928–2009) On September 16, 2009, a hard-working lexicographer, a renowned researcher of the history of Lithuanian lexicography, Kazys Pakalka, suffering from a serious illness, left us. He left quietly (he was quiet in life), without flowers, without farewell speeches, not wanting to disturb either his closest friends or acquaintances. He died in Vilnius, where he spent most of his life, and the urn with his ashes was returned to his native town, the grave of his parents in the village cemetery of Gedžiūnliai. Nearby is the native village of Júodalaukis (Daugėliškės parish, Ignalina district). According to the family tradition, Kazys Pakalka came into this world through the linen mill itself. However, the organist entered in the parish books: 1928 years 356 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 January 1. To rejuvenate a newborn in those days was quite common – later you will have to go to the army. In 1941, Kazys Pakalka began attending the famous Vytautas the Great Gymnasium in Vilnius. The deceased often remembered with good words the so-called General Counsel for Education during the years of German occupation, Dr. Pranas Germantas (Meškauskas)1, who took special care of Lithuanian schools in the Vilnius region. His uncle, Nikodemas Pakalka, a long-time pastor of Marcinkonys, who was remembered by his parishioners, also facilitated the path to education for the future linguist. He had studied at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland together with Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, and had also worked for a while at the Vytautas the Great Gymnasium in Vilnius. Nicodemus Pakalka, it could be said, was very hospitable to linguists. Professor Juozas Balčikonis not only spent his summers here, but his bees also found a pleasant shelter near the parish church. Aloyzas Vidugiris, Antanas Balašaitis, friends of Kazis Pakalkas, were also frequent guests here. The locals suspected these three young men to be clerics. In the autumn of 1948, Kazis Pakalnis was not among the Lithuanianists who started their studies at Vilnius University. It appeared a little later, “running away” from the Forestry Faculty. The Lithuanian language lessons given by Lionginas Vaitiekūnas, a teacher at Vytautas Didysis Gymnasium, probably played a major role in giving up the forestry specialty, which was more desirable for a rural person. His Latin teacher, later a university lecturer, Jadvyga Tijūnelytė (Šimkauskienė), helped his former pupil to arrange the formalities of the “transfer”. His classmates remember Kazys Pakalkas as a student of rare diligence. He never passed his exams unprepared. The author of this article could firmly testify to this – he usually took the exams immediately after his friend. He was rarely seen in dance halls or other entertainment venues. He never shouted in stadiums. It is true, a funny episode comes to mind – a physical education teacher, seeing how easily his student climbs a rope, here 1 Pranas Germantas (1903–1945) defended his dissertation “Folk customs in Lithuanian family life” at the University of Leipzig in 1936. In 1941, he was appointed a general counsel for education. He was arrested in 1943 for opposing Nazi policies, especially the mobilization of SS units. He died in the Stutthof concentration camp. The Lithuanian prisoners, having bribed the head of the crematorium, obtained his urn and escaped from the camp to Sweden. He was later buried in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the tomb was destroyed in 1960. P. Germanto brother, Lithuanian teacher, employee of various editorial offices, active member of the Lithuanian Language Society Kastas Meškauskas (1906–1932) drowned near Palanga. For more information about P. Germanto activities, see M a c ko ny t ė B. Vilnius in the war carousel. – Vilnius cultural life. 1939–1945. Wilkinson 1999, pp. 78–88. A. SABALIAUSKAS. In memoriam Kazys Pakalka 357 immediately checked his muscles and urged him to attend boxing training. However, such proposals were far from attracting the hard-working Lithuanian. Kazys Pakalka, like other students from the Vilnius region, who had felt national oppression in his childhood, was probably much more Lithuanian than us, who came to the university from other corners of Lithuania, and more sensitive to every foreigner’s intention. Soon Kazys Pakalka became an active collector of words for the Lithuanian academic dictionary. We, our classmates, sometimes watched with a little jealousy when Professor Juozas Balčikonis presented a bill to his student during a lecture and explained that he would get some money for the words he brought to Antakalnis. During his lifetime, Kazys Pakalka wrote perhaps over 20,000 of these words for the dictionary. Most of the words are probably written from the lips of his mother Anele Pakalkienė (Cicėnaitė). He was very good at writing in his native dialect, and his language was of a rare vividness and eloquence. I would like to remind you that Kazys Pakalka loved his mother immensely. The wife of the author of this article, who, as doctors, had to communicate with Pakalkienė, said that she had never met another person in her life who took such care of her mother as Kazys Pakalka did. The future linguist was also involved in the study of the history of Lithuanian lexicography. Under the supervision of Professor Jon Palionis he wrote a valuable diploma thesis on the manuscript of the dictionary of Dionysius Poskas2. After graduating from the university in 1953, Kazys Pakalka taught at the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute for several years. However, all his further research activities are mainly related to the Lithuanian Language Institute. In 1629 he wrote his dissertation First Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language (in Konstantinas Širvydas’s Dictionary of the Triumph of Languages). The supervisor of the thesis is Professor Jonas Kruopas. The official opponent of the dissertation, Professor Juozas Balčikonis, concluded his review with the following words: “the work carried out deserves more than enough that the Scientific Council agrees to recognize K. Pakalkai’s degree of candidate of philological sciences”. Both Professor Juozas Balčikonis and the members of the Scientific Council were particularly impressed by the second part of the dissertation – a 917-page register of Lithuanian words. “It is understandable,” said J. Balčikonis, “that a lot of work has been put into writing such a large register. He should be released immediately. On the contrary, 2 See. The genesis and fate of the Pa k a l k a dictionary by K. D. Poška. – Lithuanian Linguistics Questions 29, 3 The employees of the Lithuanian Language and 1991, 113–117. Literature Institute were obliged to use this form of our lexicographer’s surname at the time. 358 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 the capital would be buried in the ground.”4 According to Professor Kostas Korsakas, the writing of these dissertations should be banned in general. It can be said that with the defence of the dissertation the work on this monument of Lithuanian lexicography has just begun. Kazys Pakalka published numerous articles about the dictionary and its author, he identified the sources of the Polish part of the dictionary, corrected the date of the first edition of the dictionary, and examined the novelties. Of course, most importantly, he prepared facsimile editions of the so-called first (about 1620) and third (1631) editions, with introductory studies and indexes of Lithuanian words. These new, ornate editions are now available to everyone (First Lithuanian Language Dictionary, 1979; Old Konstantino Sirvydo Dictionary, 1997). We could say that Konstantinas Sirvydas was the great love of Kazis Pakalkas, as a researcher, who accompanied him until the last days of his life. Another area of Lithuanian linguistics, in which the late man also did a lot, was the academic dictionary of Lithuanian language. This most important work of our lexicography, which the Lithuanian nation has been preparing for exactly a hundred years, Kazys Pakalka touched on as a student and worked actively on it for almost four decades. In 1996, he was awarded the Lithuanian Republic Science Prize for this work. Domina Kazis Pakalkas also studied the history of individual Lithuanian words, Lithuanian language research, language culture, the dialect of his native Daugėliškis. His friends of science and work remember Kazys Pakalkas as a very sensitive, always focused, sincere person. Dear friend, rest in peace forever after returning to the most dear to Your heart corner of our earth. 4 B a l č i k o n i s J. Selected Writings. T. 1. London, 1978, pp. 367–370.