Based on Juri Lotman’s works published in the early 1990s and on a series of his interviews organized at the same time, we will analyze his growing interest in the problems of semiotics, which go beyond the framework of “semiotics of culture” in its “traditional” understanding connected with the humanities par excellence. This trend will be shown to be related to a particular line of relevant research conducted during the previous years, organized around the “Lotman's group” at the University of Tartu and presented at the numerous seminars and conferences organized by Juri Lotman in person, as well as reflected in the monographs and edited volumes published by the "Lotman's Department" – first of all, in the Sign Systems Studies (Trudy po znakovym sistemam) periodical. This interest in the “semiotics of life”, largely based on the initial Lotman’s interest in studying the phenomena of culture as related to the humanities, remarkably predetermined the development of semiotic disciplines and pedagogical activities at the University of Tartu after Lotman’s death.