Jānis Endzelīns (22 February 1873 – 1 July 1961) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

. He graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. In 1908, he and Kārlis Mīlenbahs developed the modern Latvian alphabet, which slowly replaced the old orthography used before. He was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1936. His son was chess master Lūcijs Endzelīns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endzelins, Janis 1873 births 1961 deaths People from Valmiera Municipality People from Kreis Wolmar Linguists from Latvia Balticists University of Tartu alumni University of Latvia faculty Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Lenin Prize winners