Zigmas Zinkevičius

Garbės daktaras / Honorary Doctor (Suteiktas vardas 1994-03-09)

Prof. Dr. habil. Zigmas Zinkevičius, a distinguished scholar, linguist, specialist in Baltic philology, and historian of the Lithuanian language, was awarded the VMU honorary doctorate regalia in 1994. For his merits to Lithuania, he was also awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas of the Third Class.

Zigmas Zinkevičius was born on 4 January 1925, in Juodausiai village, Ukmergė region. After completing primary education in 1939, he attended Ukmergė Gymnasium. In 1945, he enrolled at Vilnius University, the Faculty of History and Philology. During his studies, he began an active academic career, serving as chief laboratory assistant in the Department of the Lithuanian Language from 1946 to 1950. After graduating, he lectured at Vilnius University and the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute until 1956. His academic roles expanded to include positions such as associate professor in the Department of the Lithuanian Language of Vilnius University from 1956 to 1967, vice-dean of the Faculty of History and Philology from 1956 to 1968, chief researcher from 1962 to 1964, and professor in the Department of the Lithuanian Language from 1967 to 1973. In 1973, he became the head of the department. He held this position until 1988, when he assumed the role of head of the Department of Baltic Philology, a position he maintained until 1989. After Lithuania regained independence, he began teaching at Vytautas Magnus University. In 1995, he was appointed director of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, and in 1996, the Minister of Education and Science. In 1998, he became a state adviser on education and science.

Professor Zinkevičius’s main areas of research included the history of the Lithuanian language, dialectology, and Baltic studies. He published around 50 books, including the six-volume “History of the Lithuanian Language” (1984-1994), and over a thousand articles in both Lithuanian and foreign languages. He was an active participant in linguistic conferences in Lithuania and abroad and held memberships in several prestigious academies, including the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science. He was also a corresponding member and academician at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. In addition to the VMU honorary doctorate, he was awarded the Honorary Doctorate from the University of Latvia, the international Herder Prize, and the Science Progress Award.

Professor Zinkevičius was a full member of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Lithuanian Language Society, and a member of the editorial boards of the international journals “Baltistika” and “Lituanistika”.

Based on information provided by VMU Library.