Jack Thiessen

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Jack Thiessen
Born(1931-04-14)14 April 1931
Grunthal, Manitoba, Canada
Died9 October 2022(2022-10-09) (aged 91)
Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada
OccupationLexicographer
Alma materUniversity of Winnipeg, University of Marburg
Period1970s–2020s
Notable worksMennonite Low German Dictionary
Spouse
​
(m. 1991)​

John Peter Thiessen (14 April 1931 – 9 October 2022)

lexicographers.[3][4]

Early life and education

Thiessen was born in Gnadenfeld near Grunthal, Manitoba, Canada, on 14 April 1931.[5] He grew up in Grunthal and attended high school at Mennonite Collegiate Institute in Gretna, Manitoba.[2] Thiessen graduated from the University of Manitoba, and received his PhD at the University of Marburg.[2]

Career

In addition to

Plautdietsch language dictionary.[6] The 1977 edition of Thiessen's dictionary, published two years before Herman Rempel's dictionary, was the first published Plautdietsch dictionary, a language that had until then been primarily a spoken language. The dictionary has been expanded considerably in editions since then and been utilized by writers, such as Rudy Wiebe wishing to write, not just speak, in Plautdietsch.[7][8][9][5] In 2020, he collaborated with writer Andrew Unger in translating a popular The Daily Bonnet post into Plautdietsch.[10] He also wrote and published humorous Plautdietsch short stories about Mennonites, often collaborating with Al Reimer
.

According to John Consadine, co-editor of Refractions of Germany in Canadian Literature and Culture, Thiessen's dedication to the study of Plautdietsch grew out of his desire to be a creative writer in the small language that was his mother tongue.[11] Thiessen was a professor of German Studies at the University of Winnipeg for many years.[12]

Thiessen was married to poet Audrey Poetker from 1991 until his death in 2022.[2] Along with Poetker, he translated Bern G. Langin's The Russian Germans Under the Double Eagle and the Soviet Star into English.[13] Since the 1990s, he lived in New Bothwell, Manitoba.[14] Thiessen died in Steinbach, Manitoba, on 9 October 2022, at the age of 91.[2]

Publications

References

  1. ^ "Jack Thiessen, ons Jratsta, woat 90".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Jack Peter Thiessen Obituary". Crossings Funeral Care. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  3. ^ Krahn, Cornelius and Al Reimer (1990). Mennonite Encyclopedia Vol. 5. Herald Press. pp. 232–233.
  4. ^ Loewen, Harry and Al Reimer (1985). "Origins and Literary Development of Canadian-Mennonite Low German". Mennonite Quarterly Review. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. ^ a b Ross, Jordan (23 February 2019). "Low and behold:Revived dictionary a labour of love". The Carillon. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. ^ "'A monumental work': Manitoba man's Low German dictionary returns to bookstores". CBC. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  7. ^ Considine, John (2003). "Mennonite Low German Dictionary: A Review Article". Journal of Mennonite Studies. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  8. ^ Considine, John (2005). "Dialectology, storytelling, and memory: Jack Thiessen's Mennonite dictionaries". Journal of Mennonite Studies. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  9. ^ "Jack Thiessen". INS. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Naejenpundjet Mennonitenbabie word derjch een Wunda dree Moonat verre Tiet jebuare". The Daily Bonnet. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  11. ProQuest 215635451
    .
  12. ^ Jack Thiessen (2018). Mennonite Low German Dictionary.
  13. ^ Ann Hostetler. A Capella:Mennonite Voices in Poetry. University of Iowa Press.
  14. ^ "Low and behold". The Carillon. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
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