Prague (VNA) – The six-volume Czech-Vietnamese encyclopaedia was amongeight works honoured at the 2019 award for literature by the Czech Writers’Association in Prague on November 9 in recognition for their significance to thecountry’s literature and culture.
The120,000-word bilingual encyclopaedia, co-authored by late Czech linguisticprofessor Ivo Vasiljev and Vietnamese engineer Nguyen Quyet Tien, was completedin 12 years.
Speaking atthe event, Tien said it was the honour to receive the award. It is a motivation and great reward for the authors’tireless efforts to bridgethe gap between Vietnamese and Czech, contributing to the development of the long-standingfriendship between the two countries, he said.
Chairman ofthe Czech Writers’ Association Karel Sys said the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic plays an important role in enhancing the understanding of the two countries’ cultures and fostering the bilateralrelations. The encyclopedia is also significant as it acts as a bridge of thetwo cultures and peoples, he added.
The completecollection of the Czech-Vietnamese encyclopedia was launched in the Czech Republic in July. It aims to serveVietnamese expats and Czech people who want to learn Vietnamese. Considered abilingual encyclopaedia, it covers a wide range of subjects, including society,culture, history, biography and geography.
In May 2016,the project won the second prize of the Dictionary of the Year award by theUnion of Interpreters and Translators of the Czech Republic despite only threevolumes having been released at the time.
Vasiljev diedon October 23, 2016 at the age of 81 when he just started to write the fifthvolume.
He interpretedfor President Ho Chi Minh when a Czechoslovakian delegation visited Vietnam in1966. He was the first Czech to translate President Ho Chi Minh’s Nhat Ky TrongTu (Diary in Prison) into Czech and also researched Vietnamese ancient heritageand old scripts.
After Vasiljevdied, Nguyen Quyet Tien said that he was still determined to complete thesix-volume encyclopedia as his late fellow’s will./.
VNA