University of Tartu celebrates Juri Lotman 100

Monday, 28 February marks 100 years since the birth of Juri Lotman, world-renowned semiotician, literary scholar and cultural historian. The highlight of the centenary year is the international congress held in Tallinn and Tartu from 25 to 28 February. During the year, events take place both in Estonia and other countries.

Juri Lotman was one of the most influential scholars of the 20th century Estonia. He was an internationally renowned semiotician and literary scholar who worked at the University of Tartu for nearly 40 years. The Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics established by Juri Lotman significantly shaped the humanities all over the world.

The Estonian Semiotics Association has joined forces with Tallinn University and the University of Tartu to celebrate the Lotman’s 100th anniversary in a memorable and worthy manner. UNESCO has included this date in the list of anniversaries for 2022.

The highlight of the centenary year is the international congress “Juri Lotman’s Semiosphere” held in Tallinn and Tartu from 25 to 28 February. The keynote speakers of the congress are Aleida Assmann of the University of Konstanz, Jan Assmann of Heidelberg University, Mieke Bal of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, Boris Gasparov of Columbia University in New York, Yuri Tsivian of the University of Chicago, and Boris Uspenskij of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia.

The exhibition dedicated to Lotman’s life and academic work, “Journey in Juri Lotman’s Semiosphere” will be open at the Estonian National Museum from 4 February to 20 April. After that, the exhibition will travel to Europe, for example St. Petersburg, Paris and Thessaloníki. Two more exhibitions will be opened at the end of February: “Juri Lotman – Professor of the University of Tartu” in the University of Tartu Library and “Juri Lotman: Life as Creation” in the Mare building of Tallinn University.

The programme of the centenary year is available on the website http://jurilotman.ee/events/.