Profession: linguist

Trubetzkoi and Karcevskiy were fellow-founders of the Prague Linguistic Circle: other members included Mathesius, Benveniste, Wellek and Mukařovský. Hjelmslev was a colleague in Scandinavia at the start of WWII, and Halle a disciple when he moved to the U.S. Pasternak, Khlebnikov and Malevich had all been friends in Russian avant-garde circles; also Triolet, a continuing correspondent, and Mayakovsky, who told him mushroom-hunting was ideal for stimulating poetry. Lévi-Strauss (met in New York) and he had a profound influence on one another. He hid Shklovsky in his library to avoid arrest, and helped Chomsky get his first job.