Mikalojus Daukša
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mikalojus Daukša (other possible spellings include Mikalojus Daugsza, Polish: Mikołaj Dauksza and Polish: Mikolay Dowksza;[1] after 1527 – February 16, 1613 in Varniai) was a Lithuanian and Latin[2] religious writer, translator and a Catholic church official. He is best known as the first among Lithuania's humanists to underline the need to codify and promote the Lithuanian language over Chancery Ruthenian and Polish language used at that time in the Grand Duchy.[3] His Lithuanian translation of Jacob Ledesma's catechism became the first book in Lithuanian to be published in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Born probably after 1527 somewhere in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (most probable birthplaces is Babėnai),[4][5][6] Daukša probably attended school in Vilnius and one of the Western Europe Universities.[6] He knew several languages and had a personal library including books by Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip Melanchthon.
Daukša was a canon of Medininkai (nowadays Varniai) and a official of Samogitia.[7] Under the auspices of bishop Melchior Giedroyć, he translated the catechism by Spanish Jesuit theologist Jacobo Ledesma.[8] The book, translated from the Polish translation by Jakub Wujek, was published in 1595, and became one of the means to fight paganism, at that time still present in Lithuania, and to counter the growing threat posed to Catholicism by Reformation, promoted in Lithuania by the mighty Radziwiłł family. It was also the first Lithuanian language book to be printed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 1599 he published yet another of his works, the Lithuanian translation of the Polish language collection of sermons by Jakub Wujek, the "Postilla catholica".[9] There are two prefaces to his work, one in Latin and one in Polish.[10] In his Polish language preface he advocated the promotion of Lithuanian language in the Grand Duchy and gave a brief definition of Lithuanian nation and state.[2][10] The book is more valuable as Catechism, and is one of the invaluable Lithuanian language ancient monuments.[6]
In his translations Daukša used the central High Lithuanian dialect, influenced by both eastern High Lithuanian and Samogitian.[5] As one of pioneers of written Lithuanian, he is credited with introduction of several neologisms, among them mokytojas (teacher), valia (will), įkvėpimas (inspiration) and išmintis (wisdom).[6]
[edit] References
- ^ (Lithuanian) Konstantinas Jablonskis (1973). Lietuvių kultūra ir jos veikėjai. Vilnius: Mintis; Lietuvos TSR mokslų akademija, 129. “Mikolay Dowksza”
- ^ a b (Polish) Eugenija Ulčinajtė (2 2004). "Latinitas jako część litewskiej historii kultury i literatury". Terminus (2). Kraków: Ośrodek Badań nad Renesansem, Jagiellonian University.
- ^ (Polish) "DAUKSZA Mikołaj". Popularna encyklopedia powszechna 3. (2001). Ed. Anna Jamróz, Magdalena Olkuśnik, Elżbieta Wójcik. Kraków: Fogra. ISBN 8385719598.
- ^ (English) various authors (1969). in Gordon B. Ford: Old Lithuanian Texts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries with a Glossary. The Hague: Mouton.
- ^ a b As cited in: (English) Mikalojus Dauksa. Postilla 400. Samogitian Cultural Association. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ a b c d Venclova, Tomas (2006). Vilniaus vardai, 36-37. ISBN 9986-830-96-6.
- ^ Polish Biographical Dictionary
- ^ Full title in (Lithuanian) Kathechismas arba mokslas kiekwienam priwalvs. Paraszytas per D. Iakvba Ledesma Theologa Societatis IESV
- ^ Full title in (Lithuanian): Postilla catholicka. Tai est izguldimas ewangeliu...
- ^ a b The Preface Unto Benevolent Reader. Lithuanian Classic Literature Antholgy. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
[edit] External links
- (English) Daukša's place in the history of Lithuanian language and literature at Lithuanian Classic Literarure anthology by the Institute of Lithuanian Scientific Society
- (Lithuanian) Short bio
- (Polish) Tomas Venclova on Daukša
