Comenius
John Amos Comenius (Czech Jan Amos Komenský; German Johann Amos Comenius; Latin: Iohannes Comenius) (March 28, 1592 – November 15, 1670) was a Czech teacher, scientist, educator, and writer. He was a Unity of the Brethren/Moravian Protestant bishop, a religious refugee, and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica magna. Comenius became known as the teacher of nations.
Life and work
The birthplace of Comenius is not known. There are three possible locations: Komňa, Nivnice, or Uherský Brod in Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic).
- Komňa is a small village where his parents lived and where he takes his name from. (Czech: Komňa => Komenský; Comenius is a latinised form).
- Nivnice is a village where he spent his childhood and the most likely birthplace.
- Uherský Brod is a town where to he moved during his childhood. There is a museum devoted to him there.
He studied at Herborn in Hesse and at Heidelberg in the Palatinate. He was greatly influenced by the Irish Jesuit William Bathe, who wrote Janua Linguaram (The Messe of Tongues) as well as his teachers Johann Piscator, Heinrich Gutberleth, and particularly Heinrich Alsted. The Herborn school held the principle that every theory has to be functional in practical use, therefore has to be didactic, ie morally instructive. Comenius had a few wrinkles on his mentors' thoughts later published in Janua linguarum reserata which may have made him and the Moravian Church especial targets of the Counter Reformation. Alternately, the work may have resulted from the pogroms which drove him and his church out of its homeland into exile, but in any event, the work led him to widespread prominence and fame while suffering exile.
Comenius became a pastor at age 24 and led the Brethren into exile when the Protestants were persecuted under the Counter Reformation. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, and Royal Hungary. Comenius took refuge in Leszno in Poland, where he led the gymnasium, then to Sweden to work with Queen Christina and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. From 1642-1648 he went to Elbing (Elbląg) in Polish Royal Prussia, then to England with the aid of Samuel Hartlib, who came originally from Elbing. Comenius went to Leszno again and during the Northern Wars in 1655 declared his support for the Protestant Swedish side, for which his house, his manuscripts, and the school's printing press were burned down by Polish partisans in 1656. From there he took refuge in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he died in 1670. For unclear reasons he was buried in Naarden, where his grave can be visited in the mausoleum devoted to him.
Among the interesting facts surrounding Comenius' life includes his being considered a father of modern education and being asked to be the first President of Harvard University.
His book, Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart, is actually a reflection of his life experience. Comenius and studies into his life and teachings have come to light since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
One of his daughters, Elisabeth, married Peter Figulus from Danzig (Gdańsk). Their son, Daniel Ernst Jablonski, Comenius's grandson, later went to Berlin, where he became the highest official pastor at the court of King Frederick I of Prussia. There he was aided by Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf. Zinzendorf was the first successor to Comenius as bishop in the renewed Moravian Brethren society.
Comenius was the author of numerous publications, such as Janua Linguarum Reserata (a new Dutch translation of CFJ Antonides has been completed), Orbis Pictus (World in Pictures) and the Protestant Hymn songbooks (Gesangbuch).
Legacy
During the 19th century Czech National Revival, Comenius became idealised as a symbol of the Czech nation. This image persists to the present day.
In Sárospatak, Hungary, a teacher's college is named after him (the college now belongs to the University of Miskolc.)
March 28, the birthday of Comenius, is celebrated as Teachers' Day in the Czech Republic.
The Comenius Medal, one of UNESCO’s most prestigious awards honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, is named after him.
In 1919 the Comenius University was founded in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, (now in Slovakia). It was the first university with courses in the Slovak language.
A European Union school partnership program (Comenius - European Cooperation on School Education) has been named after the teacher of nations.
Bibliography
- Orbis Pictus
- Gesangbuch
- Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart
- Spicilegium didacticum (1680)
External links
- Comenius' biography
- Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, Central Europe
- J.A. Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod
- Comenius Museum & Mausoleum, Naarden, NL
- Excellent article by the psychologist Jean Piaget on the importance of Comenius (PDF)
Credits
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