Izidor Guzmics (April 7, 1786 – September 1, 1839), Hungarian

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, was born at Vámos-Család in the county of

Sopron Sopron (; german: Ödenburg, ; sl, Šopron) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a ...

. At

he was instructed in the art of poetry by Pál Horváth. In October 1805 he entered the Benedictine order, but left it in August of the following year only again to assume the monastic garb on November 10, 1806. At the monastery of

Pannonhalma Pannonhalma (german: Martinsberg; sk, Rábsky Svätý Martin) is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, western Hungary, with approximately 4,000 inhabitants. It is about from Győr. Archduke Otto Habsburg's heart is kept at the Pannonhalma Archab ...

he applied himself to the study of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

under Farkas Tóth and in 1812 he was sent to Pest to study theology. Here he read the best German and Hungarian authors, and took part in the editorship of the ''Nemzeti'' (National) ''Plutarkus'', and in the translation of

Johann Hübner Johann Hübner (17 March 1668 – 21 May 1731) was a German geographer and scholar, who taught by the question and answer method. Life Johann Hübner attended school in Zittau before studying theology, poetry, rhetoric, geography and history at t ...

's ''Lexicon''. On obtaining the degree of

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1816, he returned to

, where he devoted himself to

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

tic theology and literature, and contributed largely to Hungarian periodicals. The most important of his theological works are: ''A kath. anyaszentegyháznak hitbeli tanítása'' (The Doctrinal Teaching of the Holy Catholic Church), and ''A keresztényeknek vallásbeli egyesülésekről'' (On Religious Unity among Christians), both published at Pest in 1822; also a Latin treatise entitled ''Theologia Christiana fundamentalis et theologia dogmatica'' (4 vols,

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...

, 1828–1829). His translation of

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from hi ...

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s was published in 1824. His versions of the ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

'' of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

and of the ''

Iphigenia in Aulis ''Iphigenia in Aulis'' or ''Iphigenia at Aulis'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Αὐλίδι, Īphigéneia en Aulídi; variously translated, including the Latin ''Iphigenia in Aulide'') is the last of the extant works by the playwright Euripide ...

'' of

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

were rewarded by the Hungarian Academy, of which in 1838 he was elected honorary member. In 1832 he was appointed abbot of the wealthy Benedictine house at

Bakonybél Bakonybél is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary, in Zirc District. A tourist destination with a number of sights and activities, the village is located in a basin surrounded by nearby mountains. History The history of the village is close ...

, a village in the county of

Veszprém Veszprém (; german: Weißbrunn, sl, Belomost) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county (comitatus or 'megye') of ...

. There he built an asylum for 150 children, and founded a school of harmony and singing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guzmics, Izidor 1786 births 1839 deaths Hungarian Roman Catholic theologians Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences