OTRĘBSKI, Jan Szczepan. Silica, Silesia 8.12.1889 — Poznań 25.4.1971. Polish IE and Balto-Slavic Scholar. Professor in Wilno (Vilnius) and Poznań. Son of Stanisław Otrębski and Helena Gasińska. Educated in Kielce, studies at Warsaw (briefly medicine, after few months Slavic, graduated 1913) and Leipzig (Windisch, Leskien and Brugmann). During WW I interned, working in a German brick factory. After war continued studies at Cracow. Ph.D. there 1920 (under Rozwadowski). From 1921 deputy Professor of IE Linguistics at Stefan Batory University in Wilno (then Poland, now Vilnius), PD 1924 Cracow. From 1930 ord. Professor at Wilno. In 1945 moved to Poznań and taught Slavic and Baltic Linguistics at Adam Mickiewicz University there, from 1947 as Professor of Baltic Philology (new chair, in 1945-49 also taught Sanskrit). Emeritus 1960. He was best known as a specialist of Lithuanian, but also a Sanskrit scholar.
Publications: Diss. Przyczynki do gramatyki porównawczej języków indoeuropejskich. Cracow 1919.
– Le traitement des groupes du type ss en sanscrit. 67 p. Rozprawy … towarzystwa przyjaciót nauk w Wilnie 4:2. 1932.
– “Hethitisches”, Die Sprache 6, 1960, 162-165; “Zwei Etymologien”, Die Sprache 8, 1962, 63-65
– “Aind. púruṣaḥ, púmān und Verwandtes”, KZ 82, 1968, 251-258; “Zwei Beiträge zum indoeuropäischen etymologischen Wörterbuch”, Anantapāram… Słuszkiewicz 1974, 177f.
– Further works and articles on IE and Balto-Slavonic languages, mostly in Polish, especially Gramatyka języka litewskiego. 1-2. Warsaw 1958.
Sources: Jankowski 2003, 92; life and bibliography in Acta Balto-Slavica 3 (Fs, Otrębski), 1966, 7-22; *Ling. Posn. 16, 1972; Wikipedia.
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