Klaus-Di k Schmi z224 Ch is ian Galinski a 80: A Pilla o Te minology
S udies and Global Communica ion
doi.o g/10.35321/ e m31-11
Ch is ian Galinski a 80: A Pilla
o Te minology S udies and Global
Communica ion
Ch is ianui Galinskiui - 80: e minologijos
i pasaulinėskomunikacijos ams is
KLAUS-DIRK SCHMITZ
TH Köln (Uni e si y o Applied Sciences)
INTRODUCTION
The ieldo e minologyisin eg al oe ec i ecommunica ionac ossdis-
ciplines, languages, and bo de s. The p inciples o e minology s udies
a edesigned oensu e ha e msandde ini ionsa eusedconsis en ly
and accu a ely, acili a ing mu ual unde s anding in a globalized wo ld.
A hehea o hisdisciplines andsCh is ianGalinski,whosewo ko e
hepas se e aldecadeshassigni ican lyin luenced hede elopmen and
p opaga ion o e minology s udies, s anda diza ion and coope a ion. As
Galinskiceleb a eshis80 hbi hday,i ispe inen o e lec onhis as
con ibu ions o his ield,whichha ele anindeliblema konbo haca-
demic and p ac ical domains.
CHRISTIAN GALINSKI:
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Bo n in 1944, Ch is ian Galinski g ew up in a pos -wa Eu ope, whe e he
need o clea andp ecisecommunica ionwasmo ec i ical hane e ,as
he con inen gea ed up o ebuild i sel in a mul ilingual, echnical en-
i onmen .Hisacademicjou neys a eda heUni e si yo Bonn(Ge -
many), whe e he s udied Japanese, Chinese and communica ion. A e
se e alyea sinJapan,hes a edhis i s businessasaJapanese ansla o
inVienna.Thisexpe ienceandhisex ensi ebackg oundinlinguis ics,
communica ion s udies and in o ma ion science laid a s ong ounda ion
o his u u ewo kin he ieldo e minology.
225Te minologija | 2024 | 31
In hela e1970s,Galinskibecamedeeplyin ol edwi hIn o e m, he
In e na ional In o ma ion Cen e o Te minology, based in Vienna. In-
o e m was ounded in 1971 unde he auspices o UNESCO a e he
long- imee o so EugenWüs e ,anAus ianlinguis -indus ialis .The
mission o In o e m was o unc ion as an in o ma ion and documen a ion
cen e osuppo in e na ionalcollabo a ionin he ieldo e minology.
In 1986, Ch is ian Galinski was appoin ed as he di ec o o In o e m, a
posi ion ha he holds un il oday.
In o e me ol ed om ha imeon oanin e na ionalin o ma ionand
documen a ion cen e o e minology, es ablished a huge lib a y wi h a
la ge angeo publica ions ela ed o e minology,andpublishedse e al
bibliog aphies,suchasBiblioTe m(BIT)andS anda dTe m(STT).
In he la e 1980s, Ch is ian Galinski was ins umen al in he o ma-
ion o Te mNe , a membe ship-based p o essional o ganiza ion uni ing
uni e si iesando he p o essionalo ganiza ions omallo e hewo ld
op omo e aining,exchangein o ma ion,andp o idep o essionalce -
i ica ion.Asalong- imeExecu i eSec e a yo Te mNe ,hise o s o
conduc wo kshops and aining semina s h oughou Eas e n Eu ope and
beyondha eno onlybene i ed hep o essionbu ha ealsocon ibu ed o
globalunde s andinganduni ica ion.
GALINSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE FIELD OF TERMINOLOGY
Ch is ianGalinski’sin luencein hede elopmen o e minologys udies,
e minology s anda diza ion and e minology coope a ion is mul i ace ed.
Hiswo khasbeenins umen alinad ancing heo e ical amewo ksand
p ac ical applica ions alike.
Galinskihasbeenakey igu ein hede elopmen o in e na ionals an-
da ds o e minology. He has been he sec e a y and commi ee manage
o ISO/TC37“LanguageandTe minology” o decadesandad i ing o ce
o manyo heTC37s anda ds.Ch is ianGalinskiiss ill e yac i ein
se e alsubcommi eesandwo kingg oups,cu en lyinanewwo king
i em abou concep -based mic ocon en en i ies.
Besides his engagemen in In o e m and Te mNe , Ch is ian Galinski
also acili a ed he ounda ion o he In e na ional Ins i u e o Te minol-
ogyResea ch(In e na ionalesIns i u ü Te minologie o schung–IITF)
andac i elysuppo ed hec ea iono o he pe inen associa ions,suchas
Klaus-Di k Schmi z226 Ch is ian Galinski a 80: A Pilla o Te minology
S udies and Global Communica ion
heGe manTe minologyAssocia ion(Deu sche Te minologie-TagDTT)
and heEu opeanAssocia ion o Te minology(EAFT).Twop ima yac-
complishmen s a e wo hy o no e:
–Du ing he la e 1980s, a en ion was d awn o he ela ionship be-
ween e minology and knowledge enginee ing. In 1986, he Associ-
a ion o Te minologyandKnowledgeT ans e (Gesellscha ü Te -
minologie und Wissens ans e , GTW)was oundedinT ie ,wi h as
suppo omIn o e m(Ch is ianGalinskiandGe ha dBudin).The
i s con e enceonTe minologyandKnowledgeEnginee ing(TKE),
which ookplacein1987inT ie ,a ac edse e alhund edexpe s
om a ious ela eddisciplinessuchas e minology,knowledgeo -
ganisa ion,classi ica ion,andcompu e science.In heensuingyea s,
TKEcon e enceswe ehelde e y h eeyea sinT ie (1990),Cologne
(1993),Vienna(1996),andInnsb uck(1999).A e u he e en sin
Nancy,DublinandMad id,TKEandGTWwe emo edin2005 o
Copenhagen,whe eGTWwasdissol edin2022.
Ch is ian Galinski and Klaus-Di k Schmi z a he In o e m o ice a he Uni e si y o Vienna (2012)
227Te minologija | 2024 | 31
Ch is ian Galinski s udying he
p og amme o he Te minology
Summe School 2017 in Cologne
–Du ing he 3 d In e na ional Cong ess on Te minology and Knowledge
Enginee ing-TKE’93inCologne,Galinskicon enedexpe sin he
ieldo e minology oes ablishahigh-le elGe man-language e mi-
nologyini ia i e.In1994, heCouncil o Ge man-languageTe minol-
ogy(Ra ü Deu schsp achigeTe minologie,RaDT)wases ablisheda
he inaugu al mee ing on he p emises o he Ge man Commission o
UNESCOinBonn.Asanini ia i eo heGe man,Aus ianandSwiss
UNESCOCommissions, heRaDTisanexpe g oup(app oxima ely
25 membe s) comp ising Ge man language o ganiza ions, associa ions,
go e nmen agencies,businessandeduca ionalg oupswhichdealwi h
e minological issues, applica ions and cu icula. The g oup’s goal is o
ep esen all o ganisa ions conce ned wi h e minology om all Ge -
man-language egions, including Luxembou g, Sou h Ty ol and Bel-
gium.I sobjec i esa e oinc easeawa enesso e minologyinGe man
language coun ies, o p omo e coope a ion and collabo a ion in he
ieldo e minology, ocoo dina eandsuppo e minologicalac i i ies
and o c ea e, dissemina e and help implemen guidelines o e minol-
ogy policy and s a egy. Since 1994, RaDT has been mee ing wice a
yea a a iousloca ionsinGe man-speakinga eas oexchangein o -
ma ion and p oduce publica ions, and Ch is ian Galinski has emained
anac i emembe om hebeginningun il oday.
Klaus-Di k Schmi z228 Ch is ian Galinski a 80: A Pilla o Te minology
S udies and Global Communica ion
Galinski has been a he o e on o in eg a ing echnology wi h e mi-
nology managemen . He has championed he use o digi al ools o c ea e,
s o e, and dissemina e e minology da abases, acili a ing easie access o
specialknowledge.I emembe his“man a”du ing he1990s, ha e e y-
bodywouldsoonha eapocke knowledgeda abase(Taschenwissensbank)
whe e heycouldlookupe e y hing,includingmul ilingual e minology;
oday we see wi h sma phones, in e ne access all-a ound, Google, ma-
chine ansla ionandAI echnologies, ha Galinski’s isionhasbecome
eali y.Ch is ianGalinskiwasalsooneo he i s expe sin he ieldo
e minology o alkabou in e ope abili yamongdi e en ypeso knowl-
edge esou ces and no only mul ilingual bu also mul imodal accessibili y
o con en .
AsCh is ianGalinskiceleb a eshis80 hbi hday, hesigni icanceo
his con ibu ions o e minology s udies, e minology coope a ion, e mi-
nologys anda diza ionandglobalcommunica ioncanno beo e s a ed.
His wo k has laid he g oundwo k o much o wha we ake o g an ed in
oday’sin e connec edwo ld.F omde elopingin e na ionals anda ds o
p omo ing mul ilingualism and in eg a ing echnology wi h e minology,
Galinski’slegacyisoneo unwa e ingdedica ion oimp o ingcommuni-
ca ionac ossalldomainso humanendea ou .
Lookingahead, he ieldo e minologywillundoub edlycon inue o
e ol e,bu i willdosoon he ounda ion ha Ch is ianGalinskihasso
me iculouslybuil .Hisli e’swo kse esasaninspi a ion oallwhoseek
oimp o eunde s andinginou inc easinglycomplexwo ld,andhisin-
luencewillbe el o gene a ions ocome.
Gau a 2024-08-13
Klaus-Di k Schmi z
THKöln(Uni e si yo AppliedSciences)
Claudiuss . 1
50678 Köln
E-mail klaus.schmi z@ h-koeln.de
