International scientific round table "Ukraine
India: outstanding figures of Ukrainian Indology (devoted to the memory of P.G.
Ritter)" (23 May, 2019). Organized by Ukrainian Association of
Indologists, Institute of World History of the National Academy of Science of
Ukraine and Embassy of India in Ukraine.
Fil Yu. S. Pavlo Ritter: Life and Contribution to
Ukrainian Indology (short introduction) // International scientific round table
"Ukraine India: outstanding figures of Ukrainian Indology (devoted to the
memory of P.G. Ritter)" (23 May, 2019).
One of the most prominent Ukrainian indologist – Pavlo
Ritter – was the person nurtured by the intellectual atmosphere of Kharkiv –
the second largest city of Ukraine which on the 19th and the
beginning of 20th century was cultural and educational center of
Southern part of Russian Empire. It hardly went in different way, because he
was born in Chutove village in Poltava region,
not far from Kharkiv. Being born on the 5th of April 1872 in the
German originated family, he demonstrated curiosity and learning zest from the
early age. According to sources his German ancestors did much for the development of
education at that region. So, Pavlo got a good education in one of the
Ukrainian schools opened by his family. It probably defined his good practical knowledge
of Ukrainian language. After graduation from school with excellent marks he
entered the historical-philological department of the University of Kharkiv,
the second oldest University in Ukraine after University of Lviv.
The University was founded in1804 on the initiative of
the prominent educator Vasyl Karazin and in accordance with the charter of Tsar
Alexander I. It bears his name nowadays. Kharkiv University is the only
University in Ukraine that has trained and employed three Nobel Prize
laureates: the biologist Mechnikov, the economist S. Kuznts, and the physicist
L. Landau.
Pavlo Ritter was not the first Indologist at the
University, his predecessors were Vikentiy Shertsl and Dmytro Ovsyanyko-Kulykovsky,
figures who stood at the origins of Ukrainian Sanscrit studies. Though he
expressed much interest to Indian culture and languages in his student years,
it was not the main field of interest at that time. Besides them he expressed
much eager to learn Romanic languages, especially Italian. So his curiosity in
linguistics encompassed wide area in
his young age. Later he will concentrate more on the Indian literature.
In 1894 Pavlo Ritter graduated from University and
stayed at his native Department of comparative linguistics. The same year young
scholar went to Berlin for internship. He studied Sanskrit in University of
Berlin, now known as Humboldt University of Berlin is the oldest among four
Universities in the city. He studied Sanskrit and comparative linguistics
there.
But ideological situation in Tsar Russia was so that
his internship invoked sharp critique from the side of Ministry of Education.
So he was forced to return after year of study in Germany. Firstly he started to
teach Italian, later Sanskrit and Indian literature history courses. In 1905
headed the Department of linguistics.
His professional life was very diverse and productive.
Though he was a lecturer at the University, the teacher on the courses of new Eastern Languages
and the scholar, he is known mostly for his translations from Sanskrit, Pali
and Bengali languages.
In the 1927–1928 Pavlo Ritter published the Ukrainian translation
of the novel Daśa-kumāra-Carita by Dandin, some works by Rabindranath
Tagore and Bhartrihari. He also
translated Rigveda, the elegiac poem Meghadūta by Kalidasa, and
started to prepare the great anthology of ancient Indian literature in
Ukrainian. This Anthology was published later, in 1982. It includes some hymns
of Rigveda and Atharvaveda, episodes from Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Buddhism literature is represented by Dhammapada verses and jatakas.
Kalidasa’s Meghadūta and Bhartrihari’s verses. Ritter also
prepared to publish the translations of Kalidasa Raghuvaṃśa, Kumārasambhava.
He also made the first translation of Katha Upanishad in Eastern Europe.
Mostly because of his sensitivity to poetry and great talent to artistic word his
translations are very elaborate and fine.
In 1926 The All Ukrainian Scientific Association of
Oriental Studies was founded. Pavlo Ritter took the active part in its
activity. His scholarly interest covered mostly the works by Kalidasa and
Dandin, his favorite authors. The Association published The Bulletin and
the journal The World of tht Orient. Unfortunatelly, for ideological reasons journal was
closed in 1931. The A. Yu. Krymskyi Institute
of Oriental Studies revived it in 1993.
The last years of Pavlo Ritter’s life are not
clear. He died in 1931. According to some data he was repressed and died in
jail. The circumstances of his death are the subject of separate research.
