CHAVARRIA-AGUILAR, Oscar Luis. San José, Costa Rica 21.8.1922 — San José, Costa Rica 10.9.2005. Costa Rican Linguist in the U.S.A. Son of Francisco José Ricardo de Jesús Chavarría Flores (1892–1937) and Adela Joaquina María Aguilar Mathé. School in San José. Came to the U.S.A. in 1942. In 1942-45 served in U.S. Air Force, posted to Aleutian Islands. After war graduated from University of California, Berkeley (A.B. 1949). Ph.D. 1952 University of Pennsylvania. In 1952-53 in Pakistan studying Pashto, 1953-54 at Deccan College in Poona, 1956-57 director of English Language Inst. of American University in Cairo. In 1957-67 from Lecturer to Professor of Linguistics at University of Michigan (1962-64 again in India). In 1967-71 Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics (chairman of department) at University of Rochester, N.Y. From 1971 Professor of Romance Languages at City College in New York. Retired 1977 and moved back to Costa Rica, until 1987 taught at Universidad Nacional in Heredia, north of San José.. Married 1947 Ruth Frances Bachenheimer, three sons. Interested in Spanish, Pashto, Urdu, and Sanskrit.
Publications: Diss. A Grammar of Pashto. Manuscript 1951.
– “The Phonemes of Costa Rican Spanish”, Language 27, 1951, 248-253; other works on Costa Rica.
– Lectures in Linguistics. 128 p. Poona 1954.
– With B. R. Pray: A basic course in Hindi. 7+515 p. n.pl., n.d. (1961?).
– Pashto Basic Course. 7+36+159 p. Ann Arbor 1962; Pashto Instructor’s Handbook. 3+73 p. Ann Arbor 1962; A short introduction to the writing system of Pashto. 32 p. 1962.
– Edited: Traditional India. 6+153 p. Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1965.
– Two cook books; poems and newspaper columns in Spanish.
Sources: Dir. Am. Sch. 6th ed. 3 & 7th ed. 3, not in the 8th ed.; obituary in Tico Times 16.9.2005 (online); parents in ancestors.familysearch.org.
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