Do you have something to add? Have your say in the Forum
Other scholars and publicationsOther scholars to publish useful works for English speakers or assist Australian Wends over the years have been Dr Gerald Stone of Hertford College, Oxford and Professor Richard Dalitz, formerly of All Soul's College, Oxford. Dr Stone, the author of The Smallest Slavonic Nation: The Sorbs of Lusatia (1972) and the Upper Sorbian-English Dictionary (2002) is a specialist in Slavonic Studies, including Sorbs/Wends. Both he and Professor Dalitz, an Australian Wend, have helped many Australians with their Wendish research. Professor Dalitz was of particular assistance to Robert Wuchatsch in his research into the infamous 1849/50 voyage of the Pribislaw from Hamburg to Melbourne and Adelaide. A number of books published in German and/or Wendish about the Wends and their emigration and settlement outside Europe have also been produced in Germany over the last twenty years. Although not directly accessible by Australian Wends, most of whom speak neither German nor Wendish, the most directly relevant information in these works has been translated into English for use by Australian Wends. In the course of research for her 1995 book Ufer Der Hoffnung (revised and republished in 1999), Mrs Trudla Malinkowa discovered many valuable old letters written by Wends who had emigrated to Australia and the US. These complemented other emigrants' letters which had been published in Wendish newspapers in Lusatia during the 1850s. Alfons Frencl is another Wendish scholar who has published several books of interest to Australian Wends. These include A Walk Through Lusatia (1990), Serbske Puce Do Sweta (1996), Am Horizont die Welt (2000) and Daloko prec a cyle blisko (2004). Alfons has also provided valuable assistance to many Australian Wends during their visits to Lusatia. Since Pastor Burger's The Coming of the Wends first appeared in print, other Australian Wends have also contributed to our knowledge of the Wendish presence in Australia. Books published in Australia include Sorbs/Wends of Lusatia by Bev Hall, John Noack and Hans-Dieter Senff (1989), From Hamburg to Hobsons Bay: German Emigration to Port Phillip (Australia Felix) 1848-51 by Tom Darragh and Robert Wuchatsch (1999) and Emigrants on the Alfred, 1848 by Tom Darragh (2003). Many Wendish family histories, usually printed by the Lutheran Publishing House in Adelaide, have also been produced since the 1970s. During the mid 1980s, Sorbian-Wendish societies were formed in South Australia and Victoria. These continue today, although each has undergone several name changes. These groups produce regular newsletters, hold functions, conduct tours and provide advice to researchers. |