Norbert Jokl
Encyclopedia
Norbert Jokl was an Austria
n Albanologist
of Jewish descent who has been called the father of Albanology.
(then Bisenz), Southern Moravia
(now the Czech Republic
), as the only son of a merchant. He graduated from high school cum laude and entered the University of Vienna
to study law. He graduated summa cum laude on June 23, 1901.
. He studied Indo-European linguistics
, Slavistics
, and Romanistics, eventually receiving a cum laude degree.
In the late autumn of 1903, he started training in the library of the University of Vienna, where he would work until 1938.
At the age of 30, he began to actively study the Albanian language
, a linguistic field that had not been widely studied at the time.
whose field was "Indo-European linguistics with special consideration to Albanian
, Baltic
and Slavic languages
“. In 1923, he became a Professor extraordinarius, and in 1937 a Hofrat. He wrote numerous works on Albanology and became a renowned specialist. In April 1933, the paleontologist
and Albanologist Franz Nopcsa
(Ferenc Nopcsa) shot his secretary and himself, leaving his Albanological papers to Jokl.
After Adolf Hitler
came to power in Germany
, Jokl’s manuscripts started being rejected and he was no longer invited to conferences. On May 20, 1938, he was discharged as a result of the Anschluss
of Austria and was prohibited from entering his former place of work. The Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Viktor Christian, tried to save Jokl’s job, but this was in vain. Later that year, Jokl submitted an application (supported by the Dean) to be equalized with "persons of mixed blood of 1st degree“ in order to have admittance to libraries. The application was rejected.
Georg Solta, who went on to become a professor of Indo-European linguistics, would often visit him during the following four years, in order to further his studies and to maintain personal interaction with his mentor. Solta says that Jokl lived alone ascetically, though a maid would prepare food for him. Two rooms were filled with books and all of his free time was dedicated to research.
Jokl tried to find a job abroad, but this was also in vain. His last chance was a librarian position that was created for him in Albania with a monthly salary of 600 Albanian franks. Franciscan priest and Albanian national writer, Gjergj Fishta
, intervened through a letter, dated 23 September 1939 to Francesco Jacomoni
, vice-regent in Albania to make Italy intervene with the Third Reich in order to allow Jokl transfer to Albania. Jokl himself wanted to emigrate to Albania
. However, neither the efforts of Gjergj Fishta, nor those of Carlo Tagliavini, a professor of the University of Padua
, nor the appeal of Galeazzo Ciano
, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, yielded the necessary permission for him to emigrate to Albania. In one of his applications, he also asked for permission to take along his library, but was opposed by Dean Christian, who was very interested in keeping Jokl’s extensive collection at the University. Jokl’s library also contained his life work and the handwritten supplements to the Albanian vocabulary by Gustav Meyer.
and transferred to the collection camp (Sammellager). Georg Solta, trying to save his teacher, appealed for Jokl's freedom to Ernst Kaltenbrunner
, the SS Gruppenführer
in Vienna
who had also been Solta’s schoolmate. However, Kaltenbrunner argued he had no power to save Jokl from deportation.
There is contradictory information as to Jokl's death. It was reported that on May 6, 1942, he was taken to Maly Trostenets near Minsk
, where he was murdered. However, according to another version, he died from mistreatment in a barracks in Roßau, Vienna. Still other versions are that he committed suicide out of despair or that he was taken to a camp in Riga
.
After Jokl’s arrest, his former employer tried to ensure that Jokl’s library would be given to the University in case Jokl was not allowed to go to Albania. However, the Dean preferred that Jokl be sent to a concentration camp, as that would make acquisition of his works much easier. Paul Heigl, the director general of the National Library of Austria, also applied for custodianship of the collection. Despite Jokl bequeathing the library to Albania, it was confiscated on April 27, 1942 and sent to the National Library. It was believed that there were some three thousand texts in his collection, but only two hundred have been accounted for. The fate of the other works and Jokl’s supplements is unknown.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Albanologist
Albanology
Albanology is the science that studies Albanian language and culture.The father of Albanology is often considered to be the Austrian Norbert Jokl, while the Croat Milan Šufflay and the Hungarian Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás are also among its famous founders.Among modern important Albanologists...
of Jewish descent who has been called the father of Albanology.
Early life
Jokl was born in BzenecBzenec
Bzenec is a town in the southeast of Moravia, in the Czech Republic. It lies in the South Moravian Region. The population is 4,305 . Bzenec was first mentioned in 1015 . In 1330 it became a town.- Districts :* Bzenec* Domanín...
(then Bisenz), Southern Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
(now the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
), as the only son of a merchant. He graduated from high school cum laude and entered the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
to study law. He graduated summa cum laude on June 23, 1901.
Further education
Eventually Jokl abandoned his pursuit of legal training, and he decided to devote himself to linguisticsLinguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
. He studied Indo-European linguistics
Indo-European studies
Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. Its goal is to amass information about the hypothetical proto-language from which all of these languages are descended, a language dubbed Proto-Indo-European , and its speakers, the...
, Slavistics
Slavistics
Slavic studies or Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist who researches Slavistics, a Slavic or Slavonic scholar...
, and Romanistics, eventually receiving a cum laude degree.
In the late autumn of 1903, he started training in the library of the University of Vienna, where he would work until 1938.
At the age of 30, he began to actively study the Albanian language
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, a linguistic field that had not been widely studied at the time.
Career
From 1913, he was a PrivatdozentPrivatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
whose field was "Indo-European linguistics with special consideration to Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, Baltic
Baltic languages
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...
and Slavic languages
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
“. In 1923, he became a Professor extraordinarius, and in 1937 a Hofrat. He wrote numerous works on Albanology and became a renowned specialist. In April 1933, the paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and Albanologist Franz Nopcsa
Franz Nopcsa von Felso-Szilvás
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás was a Hungarian-born aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, and paleontologist...
(Ferenc Nopcsa) shot his secretary and himself, leaving his Albanological papers to Jokl.
After Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Jokl’s manuscripts started being rejected and he was no longer invited to conferences. On May 20, 1938, he was discharged as a result of the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
of Austria and was prohibited from entering his former place of work. The Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Viktor Christian, tried to save Jokl’s job, but this was in vain. Later that year, Jokl submitted an application (supported by the Dean) to be equalized with "persons of mixed blood of 1st degree“ in order to have admittance to libraries. The application was rejected.
Georg Solta, who went on to become a professor of Indo-European linguistics, would often visit him during the following four years, in order to further his studies and to maintain personal interaction with his mentor. Solta says that Jokl lived alone ascetically, though a maid would prepare food for him. Two rooms were filled with books and all of his free time was dedicated to research.
Jokl tried to find a job abroad, but this was also in vain. His last chance was a librarian position that was created for him in Albania with a monthly salary of 600 Albanian franks. Franciscan priest and Albanian national writer, Gjergj Fishta
Gjergj Fishta
Gjergj Fishta was an Albanian Franciscan friar, poet, rilindas, and a translator. Notably he was the chairman of the commission of the Congress of Monastir, which sanctioned the Albanian alphabet. In 1937 he completed and published his epic masterpiece Lahuta e Malcis, an epic poem written in Gheg...
, intervened through a letter, dated 23 September 1939 to Francesco Jacomoni
Francesco Jacomoni
Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino was an Italian diplomat and governor of Albania before and during World War II.He was born in Reggio di Calabria on 31 August 1893 to a banker's family. In 1914 he enlisted in the army for his national service. Named Lieutenant of Fortress Artillery in June 1915,...
, vice-regent in Albania to make Italy intervene with the Third Reich in order to allow Jokl transfer to Albania. Jokl himself wanted to emigrate to Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. However, neither the efforts of Gjergj Fishta, nor those of Carlo Tagliavini, a professor of the University of Padua
University of Padua
The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...
, nor the appeal of Galeazzo Ciano
Galeazzo Ciano
Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was an Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. In early 1944 Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law, Mussolini under pressure from Nazi Germany.-Early life:Ciano was born in...
, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, yielded the necessary permission for him to emigrate to Albania. In one of his applications, he also asked for permission to take along his library, but was opposed by Dean Christian, who was very interested in keeping Jokl’s extensive collection at the University. Jokl’s library also contained his life work and the handwritten supplements to the Albanian vocabulary by Gustav Meyer.
Arrest and death
On March 4, 1942, Jokl was arrested by the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and transferred to the collection camp (Sammellager). Georg Solta, trying to save his teacher, appealed for Jokl's freedom to Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an Austrian-born senior official of Nazi Germany during World War II. Between January 1943 and May 1945, he held the offices of Chief of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt , President of Interpol and, as a Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS, he was the...
, the SS Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
who had also been Solta’s schoolmate. However, Kaltenbrunner argued he had no power to save Jokl from deportation.
There is contradictory information as to Jokl's death. It was reported that on May 6, 1942, he was taken to Maly Trostenets near Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, where he was murdered. However, according to another version, he died from mistreatment in a barracks in Roßau, Vienna. Still other versions are that he committed suicide out of despair or that he was taken to a camp in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
.
After Jokl’s arrest, his former employer tried to ensure that Jokl’s library would be given to the University in case Jokl was not allowed to go to Albania. However, the Dean preferred that Jokl be sent to a concentration camp, as that would make acquisition of his works much easier. Paul Heigl, the director general of the National Library of Austria, also applied for custodianship of the collection. Despite Jokl bequeathing the library to Albania, it was confiscated on April 27, 1942 and sent to the National Library. It was believed that there were some three thousand texts in his collection, but only two hundred have been accounted for. The fate of the other works and Jokl’s supplements is unknown.