Stefan Geosits ( hr, Štefan Geošić, hu, Geosits István; 27 August 1927 – 20 June 2022) was a

Burgenland Croatian Burgenland Croatian (; german: Burgenländisch-Kroatisch, Burgenlandkroatisch, burgenlandkroatische Sprache, burgenländisch-kroatischen Sprache, hu, gradiscsei horvát nyelv) is a regional variety of the Chakavian dialect of Croatian spoken ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

in Austria, who worked as a lay theatre manager and director, translator, writer and historian.

Life

Geosits was born in Szentpéterfa, Vas County,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. In his birthplace he finished elementary school. He completed studies in

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

and Vienna in 1952, and then was chaplain of Croatian settlements in

Nikitsch Nikitsch (; hr, Filež; hu, Füles) is a town in the district of Oberpullendorf in the Austrian state of Burgenland in Austria. About 87% of the town's inhabitants are Burgenland Croats Burgenland Croats (, , , ) is the name for ethnic Croat ...

Parndorf Parndorf ( hu, Pándorfalu, hr, Pandrof) is a town in the district of Neusiedl am See in the Austrian state of Burgenland. Its original ancient name Perun In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon ...

and , all in

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

. From 1955, he studied further in Rome and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Since 1958 Geosits was the parish priest in

Klingenbach Klingenbach ( hu, Kelénpatak, hr, Klimpuh) is a town in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district in the Austrian state of Burgenland. It is located near the border with Hungary with a border crossing into Sopron. Population Personalities Writer Sim ...

. He built a parish hall, and expanded the cemetery with a new chapel, consecrated in 1967. He initiated a in 1972, heading for a consecration in 1976, when the parish celebrated its 700th jubilee. The project caused controversy, but the new building, with the old tower retained, was consecrated in 1976. In Klingenbach, he also immediately founded and headed an amateur Croatian theater group in 1958, translating plays and directing productions. He authored and edited many publications, monographies and religious books in Croatian, German and Hungaria. He was the first to translate the Bible completely into contemporary

, working on it over 20 years. The completes books were presented to the public at Schloss Eszterhazy in

Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; hu, Kismarton; hr, Željezni grad; ; sl, Železno, Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Eisnstod'') is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland. It had a recorded population on 29 April 2021 of 15,074. In the Habsburg ...

in 2014. Geosits received the 2014 culture prize of Burgenland Croats, honouring the translation and his life achievements for religion, culture and understanding among the ethnic groups of the region. Geosits died in Klingenbach on 20 June 2022, at the age of 94.

Publications

Source: * ''700 Jahre St. Jakobskirche und Pfarre Klingenbach'' (1976) * ''Die burgenländischen Kroaten im Wandel der Zeit'' (1986) * ''Ergebnisse der Volkszählungen 1900–1981'' (1986) * ''Knjiga mudrosti'' (1996) * ''Szentpéterfa = Petrovo Selo = Prostrum: 1221-1996'' (1996) * ''Vjerovati i živiti'' (2010) * ''Biblija na gradišćanskohrvatskom jeziku'' (2014; 5 vol.)

References

External links

Biblija za gradišćanske Hrvate - vjerski prijevodi Štefana Geošića
hrvatskenovine.at 2012
PREDSTAVLJENA BIBLIJA NA GRADIŠĆANSKOHRVATSKOM JEZIKU – U NOĆI KNJIGE 2016. U KNJIŽNICI HAZU
hazud.hr 2016 * Geosits, Stefan
Die burgenländischen Kroaten im Wandel der Zeiten
(in German) literaturzeitschrift.de 1986 * Horvat, Dragutin
Nestroy unter den burgenländischen Kroaten
(in German) kakanien-revisited.at 26 September 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Geosits, Stefan 1927 births 2022 deaths Burgenland Croats Austrian male writers Austrian expatriates in Italy Austrian expatriates in Israel 20th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests People from Vas County Austrian expatriates in Hungary Translators of the Bible into Croatian