Istvan KECSKES (1947-2025)

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Istvan KECSKES

September 20, 1947 – February 24, 2025

A great loss in 2025 was the sad passing of Istvan Kecskes, Honorary Editor of the Russian Journal of Linguistics and Professor at the State University of New York at Albany, USA.

Istvan Kecskes was a renowned linguist who made undeniable contributions to the development of cognitive linguistics and pragmatics, laid foundations for the field of intercultural pragmatics, and explored issues of bilingualism and foreign language acquisition. The results of his research are reflected in numerous articles and several books, including Intercultural Pragmatics (Oxford University Press, 2014), Explorations in Chinese as a Second Language (Springer 2017), and English as a Lingua Franca: The Pragmatic Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Kecskes was President of the American Pragmatics Association (AMPRA) and the Association for the Study of Chinese as a Second Language (CASLAR).

Beyond his academic work, he was active in publishing. He was Editor-in-Chief and founder of the journals Intercultural Pragmatics and Chinese as a Second Language Research, founder of the Mouton Series in Pragmatics, and Honorary Editor of the Russian Journal of Linguistics.

Kecskes had close academic ties with Russia. He visited Russia many times and actively collaborated with Russian scholars. He always remembered with great fondness his Russian teachers and colleagues, particularly Elena A. Zemskaya, who, as he believed, had played a significant role in his professional growth. Kecskes was a member of the International Expert Council at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, where he read a series of lectures and took part in conferences. He also collaborated fruitfully with Tomsk State University. He generously shared his knowledge with both colleagues and students, inspiring them with his enthusiasm and ambitious plans.

His dreams of returning to Russia would never come true, but we will remember and honour him and will continue to build bridges of friendship and cooperation, as he did throughout his life.

Rest in peace.

 Editorial Board

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