Isidor Levin (; September 20, 1919 – July 24, 2018) was a Latvian Jewish-born

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 folklorist, narrative researcher, theologian, and Professor Emeritus at the

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Institute of Religion and Philosophy. Levin was an internationally recognized folklorist, who supported the study of

Estonian culture The culture of Estonia combines an indigenous heritage, represented by the country's Finnic languages, Finnic national language Estonian language, Estonian, with Nordic countries, Nordic and German culture, German cultural aspects. Over the cen ...

and helped Estonian researchers continue their work during the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

. He was born in

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in September 1919. Levin moved from

in 1937 to study at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a 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.

in the area of Judaic and Semitic studies at the Faculty of Philosophy and Jewish Studies. Later he studied Comparative Folklore with Walter Anderson and

Oskar Loorits Oskar Loorits ( – 12 December 1961) was an Estonian folklorist.Felix J. Oinas, ''Loorits, Oskar'', Encyclopedia of the fairy tale Vol 8 (1996), pages 1193-1195. Life Loorits was born in Suure-Kõpu Parish, Viljandi County. He initially studied ...

, graduating in 1941. During the Nazi occupation, Levin, who was Jewish, was hidden by his teacher

Uku Masing Uku Masing (born Hugo Albert Masing, 11 August 1909 – 25 April 1985) was an Estonian polymath who contributed to theology, oriental studies, philosophy, poetry, folklore and to the field of ethnology. He was a significant figure in Estonian rel ...

. From 1952 to 1955 he studied Russian language and literature at the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. The following year he became a lecturer in German folklore at the Leningrad Institute of Germanic Studies. In 1967 he obtained a PhD at the

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (), formerly Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, is a Russian research institution for the study of the countries and cultures of Asia and North Af ...

in Moscow. Levin was one of the founding members of the

International Society for Folk Narrative Research International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(ISFNR) and was an honorary member of the

Folklore Fellows Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. He latterly donated his personal library to the University of Tartu and in 2001 was awarded the Order of the White Star, 4th Class, by then-president

Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian writer, film director, and statesman. He was the country's foreign minister from 1990 to 1992 and President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Early life Meri was born in Tallin ...

. He died in July 2018 at the age of 98.Isidor Levin obituary
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Recognition

* 2001

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 ...

(Class IV) * 2012 Granted Estonian citizenship for meritorious service in support of Estonian culture

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Isidor 1919 births 2018 deaths Latvian Jews Russian Jews University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class Soviet folklorists People from Daugavpils 20th-century Estonian Jews 20th-century Latvian Jews 21st-century Estonian Jews 21st-century Latvian Jews