Rimma Dmitrievna Kuruch (, 6 May 1938 – 8 July 2019) was a specialist in language education. Much of her work focused on documenting, preserving, and encouraging the use of

Kildin Sámi Kildin Sámi, also spelt as Kildin Saami is a Sámi languages, Sámi language spoken on the Kola Peninsula of northwestern Russia by the Sámi people, Kildin Sámi, who have historically inhabited the peninsula. The Sámi languages closest to ...

. Kuruch also helped form the Kola Sámi Association and served as its first co-vice president.

Early life and education

Kuruch was born in the village of Balovo in

Vachsky District Vachsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the forty in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia.Order #3-od Municipally, it is incorporated as Vachsky Municipal District.Resolution #670 It is located in the southwest of the oblast. ...

Gorky Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,119,115 as of the 2021 Census. From 1932 to 1990 it was known as Gorky Oblast (). The oblast ...

, Russia. Her parents were of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

n heritage. In 1961, she graduated from the Bălți State Pedagogical Institute in the

Moldovan SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

with a degrees in Russian Language, Literature, and English and she began working as a teacher in rural schools in Moldova. In 1967, she completed graduate studies at the and she began work at

Chernivtsi State University The Chernivtsi National University (named after Yuriy Fedkovych, full official title Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, ) is a public university in the city of Chernivtsi in Western Ukraine. One of the leading Ukrainian institution ...

in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

in 1968. She became a full professor there in 1971 and continued at the university until 1975.

Sámi language work

In 1975, Kuruch relocated to

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

, where she joined Pedagogical Institute Murmansk (now the ) to work with the Institute of Linguistics of the USSR Academy of Sciences. There Kuruch participated as an editor and author in the project to create the first Sámi–Russian dictionary, ''Саамско–Русский Словарь/Са̄мь–Рӯшш Соагкнэһкь'' (published in 1985), which included 8,000 words, 400 proverbs and sayings, a sketch grammar, and extensive reference material. In 1976, she became the head of a regional authors' group working to preserve and develop the Kildin Sámi language. The group developed the modern Cyrillic orthography for Kildin Sámi, along with curricula and resources for teaching Kildin Sámi to elementary schools. In 1995, Kuruch published with Nina Afanasyeva ''Правила орфографии и пунктуации саамского языка'' (Sámi Language Spelling and Punctuation Rules). In 2010, she was honored by the

Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North The Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) () is the Russian national umbrella organisation representing 40 Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East as well as the Komy-Ishma people. It is ...

with its Fidelity to the North medal for her decades of work to revive the Kildin Sámi language. In 1989, she was elected as a co-vice president (alongside Nina Afanasyeva) of the Kola Sámi Association; however, she left the post after one year due to the association's requirement that officers be ethnic Sámi.

Political engagement

Beyond her work with Sámi languages, Kuruch was an engaged activist in the Murmansk community. She worked with the Murmansk Regional Branch of the

Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice The Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice (RPPSJ; ), commonly shortened to the Party of Pensioners () is a registered political party in Russia. The party was founded as the Party of Pensioners (Общественно-Политиче ...

from 1998 to 2006, serving as chair from 2002 to 2006. From 2008, she chaired the Murmansk Children of the Great Patriotic War organization and served on the organizing committee for the 70th anniversary celebrations marking the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the defeat of Nazi troops in the Arctic.

References

External links

Rimma Kuruch and Kildin Saami language planning
Orbituary by Michael Rießler in Linguistica Uralica 56:3 (2020) {{authority control 1938 births 2019 deaths Sámi languages Linguists of Kildin Sámi Russian women linguists Language activists Soviet educators 20th-century Moldovan women 21st-century Moldovan women 20th-century Russian linguists 21st-century linguists Alecu Russo State University of Bălți alumni People from Vachsky District Russian women activists