Kenneth Katzner, 72; Russian Language Expert, Soviet Specialist
Kenneth Katzner, 72, a leading expert on the Russian language, died of congestive heart failure due to cancer on May 25 in Washington, D.C.
Born in Washington, D.C, Katzner grew up in Forest Hills, N.Y. He graduated from Cornell University and served in the U.S. Air Force. After receiving intensive Russian language training at the Syracuse University Language Program, Katzner was posted in England as a communications intelligence officer.
After military service, he worked for Encyclopaedia Britannica and the American Heritage Dictionary, where he developed his methodology for researching and defining the different meanings of words.
Katzner worked on his English-Russian/Russian-English dictionary for 18 years. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies and was pirated in the former Soviet Union. He was working on the third edition of the reference at the time of his death.
Katzner also worked in the U.S. government for 20 years as a Soviet specialist for the CIA and Defense Department.
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