Arvo Krikmann (21 July 1939 – 27 February 2017) was an
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
n academician, folklorist, linguist, paremiologist, and humour researcher. He may be best known as a
proverb
A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
scholar, “one of the leading paremiologists in the world.”
Krikman was born in
Pudivere, Lääne-Viru County. He graduated from
Tartu University
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.[Estonian Literary Museum
The Estonian Literary Museum (ELM; ), is a national research institute of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Estonia. Its mission is to improve the cultural heritage of Estonia, to collect, preserve, research and publish th ...]
. He was part of the Tartu Paremiology Group, a group of scholar that did major work on not only Estonian proverbs, but cooperated on comparative work with other proverb scholars in the
Balto-Finnic area, led by
Matti Kuusi. He also worked with Matti Kuusi on the ‘’Proverbia Septentrionalia. 900 Balto-Finnic proverb types with Russian, Baltic, German, and Scandinavian Parallels’’ (1985). Also, he and Ingrid Sarv assembled the five-volume Estonian
proverb collection ‘‘Eesti vanasõnad’’ (1980-1988).
Krikmann has published many dozen items on proverb study. Since his native Estonia was under Soviet domination for much of his academic life, Krikmann’s access to proverb publications and outside scholars from outside of the Soviet shadow was limited.
Academically, he was named “professor extraordinary” at Tartu University in 1992, then in 1997 was named to the
Estonian Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences (, ) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and develo ...
. He was awarded the
Order of the White Star
The Order of the White Star (; ) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonian citizens and foreigners to give recognition for services rendered to the Estonian state.
Design
Classes
The Order of the White Star ...
, 3rd degree. In 2004, he was the winner of the
Baltic Assembly Prize for Science. He has also been named to multiple boards and committees. Krikmann was honored by the 2014 volume of ''
Proverbium'' dedicated to him as a
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
. He was honored by a symposium held in his honor in 2014.
[http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol59/n01.pdf Online report] It was titled “Scala naturae:
Symposium in honour of Arvo Krikmann’s 75th birthday” and was held at the
Estonian Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences (, ) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and develo ...
in Tallinn.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krikmann, Arvo
1939 births
2017 deaths
Estonian folklorists
Academic staff of the University of Tartu
Members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
Proverb scholars
20th-century Estonian educators
21st-century Estonian educators
20th-century Estonian writers
21st-century Estonian writers
Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class
People from Väike-Maarja Parish