Hieronim Malecki (also ''Hieronymus Maeletius'' or ''Meletius'') (1527, most likely in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

– 1583 or 1584 in Lyck,

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establishe ...

(now

Ełk Ełk (; former pl, Łek; german: Lyck; Old Prussian: ''Luks''; lt, Lukas), also spelled Elk in English, is a small city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was assigned to Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999 ...

) was a Polish, Prussian

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

pastor and theologian, as well as a translator, publisher, writer and creator of literary

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...

. Hieronim Malecki was the son of Johannes Maletius ( Jan Malecki) (sometimes referred to as "Jan Sandecki" or "Jan Sandecki-Malecki"), who was a printer of Polish language Lutheran religious literature in Königsberg in

, then a fief of

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

. Hieronim studied in Kraków at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

and then at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pru ...

. He worked as a teacher at a Polish school in Lyck and as a translator for the starosta of Lyck. In 1563 he was hired as the resident translator of Polish in the printing house of Hans Daubmann in Königsberg Królewiec. Malecki's translations include

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

's "House Postil" (''Postylla domowa, to yest: Kazania na Ewangelie niedzielne y przednieysze święta'', 1574, Królewiec), as well as

Luther's Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pra ...

(''Catechismus maly: dla pospolitych plebanow y kaźnodzieiow'', 1615, Królewiec) He also published works by his father, Jan, including ''Libellus de sacrificiis et idolatria Borussorum, Livonum...'' ("Treatise on the sacrifices and idolatry in Prussia and Livonia", 1563, Królewiec), originally a letter to the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of University of Königsberg,

Georg Sabinus Georg Sabinus or Georg Schuler (23 April 1508 – 2 December 1560) was a German poet, diplomat and academic. Sabinus was born at Brandenburg an der Havel. He served as Professor of Poetry and Eloquence and first-ever rector of the Albertina (lat ...

, which Hieronim also published in a German-language version. In his translations into Polish, Hieronim, following his father, relied heavily on

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech ...

, and even argued that Czech and Polish were a single language. This practice had origins in an argument between Hieronim's father and another Polish translator in Królewiec,

Jan Seklucjan Jan Seklucjan (born either in 1498 or around 1510, died 1578) (also known as ''Jan from Siekluki'', ''Seclucian'', ''Seclucianus'') was a Polish Lutheran theologian, an activist in the Protestant Reformation in Poland and Ducal Prussia (a Polish ...

. According to some historians, Malecki may have been the author or co-author of the

Sudovian Book The so-called ''Sudovian Book'' (german: Sudauer Büchlein, lt, Sūduvių knygelė) was an anonymous work about the customs, religion, and daily life of the Old Prussians from Sambia. The manuscript was written in German in the 16th century. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malecki Prussia Polish Lutheran clergy 1527 births 1583 deaths Protestant Reformers