Prof. Rudolf Šrámek's 90th Jubilee

 (photo from Žaneta Dvořáková - onomastika FB channel)

The Department of Czech Language and Literature has held a celebratory gathering in honor of the esteemed colleague, Prof. Rudolf Šrámek. This momentous occasion took place on Thursday, January 18, 2024. The event was held in a hybrid format at the Masaryk University.

Under the gracious patronage of the Dean of the Faculty, Assoc. Prof. Simona Koryčánková, this jubilee celebration has been an unforgettable experience. The event was co-organized by the Dialectology Department of the Institute of the Czech Language at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. 

As they gathered to celebrate Prof. Rudolf Šrámek's impressive career and contributions, our Czech colleagues invited everybody to join them in commemorating this milestone. 

Rudolf Šrámek is a distinguished Czech linguist and dialectologist who is considered a leading figure in the field of onomastics. He was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, on January 15, 1934. Šrámek's interest in linguistics was sparked by his childhood in the bilingual environment of Hlučínsko, where Czech and German were spoken. He studied Czech language and literature at Masaryk University in Brno, earning his doctorate in 1963.

After graduating, Šrámek joined the Institute of Czech Language of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where he conducted extensive fieldwork on Czech dialects. He also focused on onomastics, publishing numerous studies on the origins and historical development of Czech toponyms and anthroponyms.

In 1993, Šrámek joined the faculty of the Pedagogical Faculty of Masaryk University, where he taught onomastics and dialectology for many years. He is also a former president of the Onomastic Commission of the Czech Academy of Sciences and a member of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences. Šrámek has authored numerous books and articles on linguistics, including:

• Místní jména na Moravě a ve Slezsku (Place Names in Moravia and Silesia, 1977)
• Úvod do obecné onomastiky (Introduction to General Onomastics, 1998)
• Zeměpisná jména v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku: slovník vybraných zeměpisných jmen s výkladem jejich původu a historického vývoje (Geographical Names in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia: A Dictionary of Selected Geographical Names with Explanations of Their Origins and Historical Development, 1997)
• Labyrintem vlastních jmen a nářečí (Through the Labyrinth of Proper Names and Dialects, 2009)
• Putování za názvy obcí Jihlavska (Journeys to the Names of Villages in the Jihlava Region, 2022)

Šrámek's work has significantly advanced our understanding of Czech onomastics, and he is considered a pioneer in the field. He is also a respected teacher and mentor, having inspired generations of linguists.