13 Facts About Nicholas Poppe

Nicholas Poppe is known as Nikolaus Poppe, with his first name in its German form.

Nicholas Poppe was open-minded toward the inclusion of Korean in Altaic, but regarded the evidence for the inclusion of Korean as weaker than that for the inclusion of Mongolic, Turkic, and Tungusic.

Nicholas Poppe's father was stationed in China as a consular officer in the Russian diplomatic service.

Nicholas Poppe began teaching at the Institute for Modern Oriental Languages before he had completed his studies in 1920 at the age of 23.

Nicholas Poppe served as a translator between the local population and the German invaders.

Nicholas Poppe continued teaching there up to his retirement in 1968.

Nicholas Poppe was elected a Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences in 1968 and again in 1977.

Nicholas Poppe attended its first meeting in 1989 and the second in 1990.

Nicholas Poppe was invited to the third meeting in May 1991 but was unable to attend on account of the state of his health.

Nicholas Poppe died on 8 June 1991 in Seattle, Washington, at the age of 93.

Nicholas Poppe spoke fluent Mongolian and attained an unmatched familiarity with Mongolian oral literature.

Nicholas Poppe's research focused on studies of the Altaic language family, especially Khalkha-Mongolian and Buryat-Mongolian, and on studies of the folklore of these and related languages.

Nicholas Poppe wrote manuals and grammars of written and colloquial Khalkha-Mongolian and Buriat-Mongolian, Yakut, the Alar dialect, and Bashkir.