Origins & Early Life

Vladimir Ivanovich Dal (Russian: Владимир Иванович Даль, [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ]; 22 November 1801 – 4 October 1872) was a Russian lexicographer, speaker of many languages, Turkologist, and founding member of the Russian Geographical Society. During his lifetime, he compiled and documented Russian oral traditions, many of which became part of modern folklore. Vladimir Dal's father was a Danish physician named Johan Christian von Dahl (1764 – 21 October 1821), a linguist versed in the German, English, French, Russian, Yiddish, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages. His mother, Julia Adelaide Freytag, had German and probably French (Huguenot) ancestry; she spoke at least five languages and came from a family of scholars.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

The future lexicographer was born in the town of Lugansky Zavod (present-day Luhansk, Ukraine), in Novorossiya – then under the jurisdiction of Yekaterinoslav Governorate, part of the Russian Empire. (The settlement of Lugansky Zavod dated from the 1790s.) Dal grew up under the influence of varied mixture of people and cultures which existed in that area. Dal served in the Imperial Russian Navy from 1814 to 1826, graduating from the Saint Petersburg...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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