Rado Ludovik Lenček (3 October 1921 – 27 January 2005) was a Slovene linguist, cultural historian and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

, who lived and worked in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Xenia Slavica : papers presented to Gojko Ružičić on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, 2 February 1969 http://lib.ugent.be/en/catalog?q=Ru%C5%BEi%C4%8Di%C4%87%2C+Gojko%2C+b.+1894&search_field=subject He was a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and contributed significantly to the development of Slovene studies in the United States.

Education and early work

Lenček was born in

Mirna Micro ribonucleic acid (microRNA, miRNA, μRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21–23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals, and even some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcri ...

. He finished

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; ; also known by #Name, alternative names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, seventh-largest city of Slovenia. It is the economic and cultural centre of the traditional region of Lower Carniola (southeastern Slovenia) and ...

in 1940 and then studied

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

. He graduated in 1944 and in 1946 and 1947 continued his studies in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, Italy. After that, he worked for ten years as a professor at different grammar schools in the Allied Military Government administered Zone A of the

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between Italy and SFR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, direct responsibility of ...

. In Trieste, he also edited the ''Kulturne vesti'' (Cultural News) newsletter of the

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Life and work in the United States

In 1956, Lenček and his family emigrated to the United States. From 1958 to 1959, he studied at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, after which he enrolled at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he received a doctorate in

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

and literatures in 1962. He then taught Slavic languages and literature at the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. In 1965, he started teaching at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 1995. From 1975 to 1988, he was the head of the Slavic department. He was also a member of the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

and of several linguistic societies in the United States and Europe.

Awards

Lenček was awarded several times for his work, for example the award of the

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) is an academic organization founded in 1941. AATSEEL holds an annual conference each January and publishes the '' Slavic and East European Journal'' (SEEJ), a pee ...

in 1994, and the title Honorable Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Science, bestowed on him by the Slovenian Ministry of Science and Technology in 1995 for his achievements in research that contributed to raising Slovenia's international profile. In 2001, he was bestowed the Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia by Slovene President Janez Drnovšek for his numerous years of work for raising the profile of and establishing the

Slovene language Slovene ( or ) or Slovenian ( ; ) is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic language of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. Most of its 2.5 million speakers are the ...

abroad. From 1991 until his death, he was a correspondent member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

. The Rado Lencek Graduate Student Prize of the American

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

was named after him.

References

External links

;Academic articles written by Lenček:
''Humanism in the Slovene lands''
In ''Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity'' (Vol. 7, No. 2, 1979). ISSN 1465-3923.
''The Terms'' Wende-Winde'','' Wendisch-Windisch ''in the Historiographic Tradition of the Slovene Lands''
In ''Slovene Studies'' (Vol. 12, No. 2, 1990) ISSN 0193-1075.
''On Poetic Functions of the Grammatical Category of Dual''
In ''South Slavic and Balkan Linguistics''. Rodopi B. V. Amsterdam, 1982. .
''A Paradigm of Slavic National Evolution: Bible – Grammar – Poet''
In ''Slovene Studies'' (Vol. 6, No. 1–2, 1984). ISSN 0193-1075. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lencek, Rado Ludovik 1921 births 2005 deaths Slavists University of Chicago alumni Harvard University alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty Columbia University faculty Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts People from Mirna, Mirna Recipients of the Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia University of Ljubljana alumni Yugoslav emigrants to the United States