Juri Lotman was born in Petrograd

February 28 1922

Juri Lotman was born in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) to a family of Jewish Russian intellectuals. His parents moved to Petrograd from Odessa. His father Mikhail Lotman (1882—1942) was a lawyer educated in the St Petersburg University. He died during the Siege of Leningrad in 1942, when Lotman was at the front. His mother Aleksandra Lotman (1889—1963) was a Sorbonne-educated dentist.

Juri Lotmani vanemad 1913. aastal. Fotograaf: Jossif Otsup (M. Lotmani kodulehelt)

Juri Lotman was the youngest of their four children. The oldest daughter Inna Obraztsova (1915-1999) was a composer who graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. The middle daughter Lidia Lotman (1917-2011) was a literary scholar who worked at the Institute for Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House). The youngest daughter (1919-2003) was a cardiologist.

The Lotman family home was located on the Nevsky Prospect.

Juri Lotman as a child.
Elurada
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The beginning–end and death are inextricably linked to the possibility of un- derstanding the reality of life as something which may be comprehended.

Juri Lotman