Victor Bayda

Victor Victorovich Bayda (Russian: Виктор Викторович Байда; born c. 1981)[1][2] is a Russian linguist who specializes in Celtic and Germanic languages. He is currently a language-planning officer in the Iveragh Gaeltacht of County Kerry.

Victor Bayda
Born
Виктор Викторович Байда

c. 1981 (age 41–42)
Moscow, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Occupation(s)Oifigeach Pleanála Teanga (lit. 'language-planning officer')
Academic background
Alma materMoscow State University
ThesisThe Evolution of Perfect Constructions in Icelandic and Goidelic (2009)
Academic work
DisciplineLinguist
InstitutionsMoscow State University
Main interestsCeltic and Germanic languages

Biography

A native of Moscow, Bayda first became interested in languages at the age of thirteen. He was particularly interested in Celtic languages, and by the time he went to university he had learnt some Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.[3]

At Moscow State University, he studied Dutch and Irish.[4] To order to improve his Irish, he spent one term at Trinity College Dublin.[4] He later spent time in the Irish-speaking communities of An Spidéal and An Cheathrú Rua, and attended Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge.[4][5][6]

He was a lecturer in Irish at Moscow State University for more than fifteen years,[4] and received his doctorate from there in 2009, with a thesis entitled Эволюция перфектных конструкций в исландском и гойдельских языках (lit. 'The Evolution of Perfect Constructions in Icelandic and Goidelic').[1]

In 2019, he was appointed as a language-planning officer (or Oifigeach Pleanála Teanga) for the Iveragh Gaeltacht (or Gaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh) of County Kerry,[4] with the responsibility to devise and implement a plan to revive the Irish language there.[5] In this role, he has advocated that the Gaeltacht regions be given their own senior ministry within the Irish government.[7]

Bayda speaks ten languages: Russian, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Icelandic, Swedish, English, Dutch, German, and French.[3]

References
  1. "Байда Виктор Викторович" (in Russian). Moscow State University. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  2. "Language barrier". The Irish Times. 5 July 2006. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022.
  3. Mac an tSíthigh, Seán (21 February 2019). "Russian man appointed Irish language officer in Kerry Gaeltacht". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019.
  4. McGee, Harry (20 February 2019). "From Russia with Grá: Muscovite appointed to promote Irish in Kerry". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019.
  5. Ní Aodha, Gráinne (21 February 2019). "Moscow native appointed to promote Irish language in south Kerry Gaeltacht". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019.
  6. Bannister, Garry (10 March 2016). "How I brought the Irish language to 1970s Russia". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017.
  7. Evans, Tadhg (8 July 2020). "A language on the edge". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020.
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