An Arabic version of the first Harry Potter novel is part of the University of Calgary display. (CBC)

A Russian professor's personal interest in translated Harry Potter books has turned into a display at the University of Calgary.

Nicholas Zekulin was working in Prague in 2003 when his younger daughter visited and brought along the first four books about the adventures of Harry Potter, an orphaned wizard and his friends at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The professor enjoyed reading the books and began buying the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in different languages on his travels. Soon, friends were bringing him other translated volumes.

"I realized the problems for translators were really quite formidable," Zekulin, who teaches at the U of C, said Wednesday.

Zekulin incorporated Harry Potter into his classes, asking his students to assess how Harry Potter translators handled linguistic problems.

His 67 translated volumes — which cost from 60 cents to $60 each — include versions in Icelandic, Latin, Nepalese, Urdu and ancient Greek.

'It's one way that they have of keeping the language alive.'— Nicholas Zekulin, professor

Zekulin said many cultures are using Harry Potter to revive languages in danger of disappearing.

"There's a lot of that, particularly in Europe, small languages, languages like Faroese, which is spoken only by a couple of thousand people on the Faroe Islands," he said.

"It's one way that they have of keeping the language alive, not only as a spoken language — because many of their children might hear their parents or grandparents speak it, might even speak it [themselves] — but would never see it written."

Harry Potter has also improved literacy, Zekulin said.

"In Thailand, the number of children who read regularly in Thai rose from six per cent to 20 or 22 per cent as a result of the Harry Potter translation into Thai," he said.

"The same is true actually in English. The number of people who began reading — learned in effect to enjoy reading — on the basis of Harry Potter is quite astronomical."

The Language Research Centre at the U of C will display the collection until March 10.