John Amos Comenius (; cs, Jan Amos Komenský; pl, Jan Amos Komeński; german: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher,

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

and

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 ...

who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of

universal education Universal access to education is the ability of all people to have equal opportunity in education, regardless of their social class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background or physical and mental disabilities. The term is used both in col ...

, a concept eventually set forth in his book ''Didactica Magna''. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century. Comenius introduced a number of educational concepts and innovations including pictorial textbooks written in native languages instead of Latin, teaching based in gradual development from simple to more comprehensive concepts, lifelong learning with a focus on logical thinking over dull memorization,

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

for impoverished children, education for women, and universal and practical instruction. Besides his native

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

,"Clamores Eliae" he dedicated "To my lovely mother, Moravia, one of her faithful son...". Clamores Eliae, p.69, Kastellaun/Hunsrück : A. Henn, 1977."Moravian by nation, language Bohemian, profession theologian, servant of Gospel from the year of grace 1616." It is his own identification in "Opera omnia didactica" 1657, http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/comenius/comenius1/p3/jpg/s468.html he lived and worked in other regions of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, and other countries: Sweden, the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

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

Life and work

John Amos Comenius was born in 1592 in the

Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooper ...

in the Bohemian Crown. His birthplace is uncertain and possibilities include

Uherský Brod Uherský Brod (; german: Ungarisch Brod) is a town in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument ...

(as on his gravestone in

Naarden Naarden () is a city and former municipality in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren since 2016. History Naarden was granted its city rights in 1300 (the only t ...

), Nivnice, and Komňa (from this village he took his surname, which means "a man from Komňa"), all of which are located in

Uherské Hradiště District Uherské Hradiště District ( cs, okres Uherské Hradiště) is a district ('' okres'') within the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Uherské Hradiště. List of municipalities Babice - Bánov - Bílovice - Bojkov ...

of today's

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. John was the youngest child and only son of Martin Komenský (died 1602–4) and his wife Anna Chmelová. His grandfather, whose name was Jan (János) Szeges, was of Hungarian origin. He started to use the surname Komenský after leaving Komňa to live in Uherský Brod. Martin and Anna Komenský belonged to the

Moravian Brethren , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Prot ...

, a pre-Reformation Protestant denomination, and Comenius later became one of its leaders. His parents and two of his four sisters died in 1604 and young John went to live with his aunt in Strážnice. Owing to his impoverished circumstances he was unable to begin his formal education until later in life. He was 16 when he entered the

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

in Přerov (he later returned to this school as a teacher 1614–1618). He continued his studies in the

Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy ( la, Academia Nassauensis) was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty ...

(1611–1613) and the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

(1613–1614). In 1612 he read the

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

manifesto ''

Fama Fraternitatis ''Fama fraternitatis Roseae Crucis oder Die Bruderschaft des Ordens der Rosenkreuzer'', usually listed as ''Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis'', is an anonymous Rosicrucian manifesto published in 1614 in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel (in present-day German ...

''. Comenius was greatly influenced by the Irish Jesuit William Bathe 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 it has to be didactic (i.e. morally instructive). In the course of his study he also became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius and with the report of these reforms issued by the universities of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

. Comenius became rector of a school in Přerov. In 1616 he was ordained into the ministry of the Moravian Brethren and four years later became pastor and rector at

Fulnek Fulnek () is a town in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,500 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative pa ...

, one of its most flourishing churches. Throughout his life this pastoral activity was his most immediate concern. In consequence of the

religious wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, he lost all his property and his writings in 1621. In 1627 he led the Brethren into exile when the Habsburg Counter-Reformation persecuted the Protestants in Bohemia. In 1628 he corresponded with

Johann Valentin Andreae Johannes Valentinus Andreae (17 August 1586 – 27 June 1654), a.k.a. Johannes Valentinus Andreä or Johann Valentin Andreae, was a German theologian, who claimed to be the author of an ancient text known as the ''Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Ro ...

. He produced the book ''

Janua linguarum reserata ''Janua linguarum reserata'' (English: ''The Door of Languages Unlocked'', often mistranslatedJan Kumpera: Jan Amos Komenský, poutník na rozhraní věků, Prague 1992, , pp. 247–8, 296–8, 309 as ''The Gate of Languages'' and the like) is a ...

'', or ''The Gate of Languages Unlocked'', which brought him to prominence. However, as the Unity of the Brethren became an important target of the

Counter Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

movement, he was forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe. Comenius took refuge in

Leszno Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...

in Poland, where he led the gymnasium and, furthermore, was given charge of the Bohemian and Moravian churches. In 1638 Comenius responded to a request by the government of Sweden and traveled there to draw up a scheme for the management of the schools of that country, After his religious duties, Comenius's second great interest was in furthering the Baconian attempt at the organization of all human knowledge. He became one of the leaders in the encyclopædic or

pansophic Pansophism, in older usage often pansophy, is a concept in the educational system of universal knowledge proposed by John Amos Comenius, a Czech educator. " omenius'ssecond great interest was in furthering the Francis Bacon, Baconian attempt at t ...

movement of the seventeenth century, and, in fact, was inclined to sacrifice his more practical educational interests and opportunities for these more imposing but somewhat visionary projects. In 1639, Comenius published his ''Pansophiæ Prodromus'', and in the following year his English friend Hartlib published, without his consent, the plan of the pansophic work as outlined by Comenius. The pansophic ideas find partial expression in the series of textbooks he produced from time to time. In these, he attempts to organize the entire field of human knowledge so as to bring it, in outline, within the grasp of every child. Comenius also attempted to design a language in which false statements were inexpressible. Portrait of an Old Man, Rembrandt

In 1641, he responded to a request by the

English parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

and joined a commission there charged with the reform of the system of public education. The

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

interfered with the latter project. According to Cotton Mather, Comenius was asked by Winthrop to be the President of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(this being more plausibly

John Winthrop the Younger John Winthrop the Younger (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony, and he played a large role in the merger of several separate settlements into the unified colony. Early life Winthrop was born ...

than his father as junior Winthrop was in England) but in 1642, Comenius moved to Sweden instead to work with Queen Christina (reigned 1632–1654) and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (in office 1612–1654) on the task of reorganizing the Swedish schools. The same year he moved to Elbląg (Elbing) in Poland and in 1648 went to England with the aid of

Samuel Hartlib Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb (c. 1600 – 10 March 1662)
M. Greengrass, "Hartlib, Samuel (c. 1600–1662)", ''Oxford D ...

, who came originally from Elbląg. In 1650 Zsuzsanna Lorántffy, widow of

George I Rákóczi George I Rákóczi (8 June 1593 – 11 October 1648) was Prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death in 1648. Prior to that, he was a leader of the Protestant faction in Hungary and a faithful supporter of Gabriel Bethlen, his predecessor ...

prince of

invited him to

Sárospatak Sárospatak (german: Potok am Bodroch; la, Potamopolis; sk, Šarišský Potok or ; ) is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply ''Pa ...

. Comenius remained there until 1654 as a professor at the first Hungarian Protestant College; he wrote some of his most important works there. Comenius returned to Leszno. During the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...

in 1655, he declared his support for the Protestant Swedish side, for which Polish Catholic partisans burned his house, his manuscripts, and the school's printing press in 1656. The manuscript of ''Pansophia'' was destroyed in the burning of his home in Leszno in 1657. From Leszno he took refuge in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

in the Netherlands. In 1659, Comenius produced a new edition of the 1618 Bohemian Brethren hymnal, ''Kancionál, to jest kniha žalmů a písní duchovních'' containing 606 texts and 406 tunes. In addition to revising the psalms and hymns, his revision greatly expanded the number of hymns and added a new introduction. This edition was reissued several times, into the nineteenth century. His texts in Czech were notable poetic compositions, but he used tunes from other sources. He also edited the German hymnal ''Kirchen-, Haus- und Hertzens-Musica'' (Amsterdam, 1661), which had been published under the title ''Kirchengesänge'' since 1566. In other writings, Comenius addresses both instrumental and vocal music in many places, although he dedicated no treatise to the topic. Sometimes he follows the medieval mathematical conception of music, but in other places he links music with grammar, rhetoric, and politics. Musical practice, both instrumental and vocal, played an important role in his system of education. He would die there, in Amsterdam, in 1670. For unclear reasons he was buried in Naarden, where visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum, located in the Kloosterstraat, devoted to him.

Educational influence

The most permanent influence exerted by Comenius was in practical educational work. Few men since his days have had a greater influence though, for the greater part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, there was little recognition of his relationship to the current advance in educational thought and practice. The practical educational influence of Comenius was threefold. He was first a teacher and an organizer of schools, not only among his own people, but later in Sweden, and to a slight extent in Holland. In his ''Didactica Magna'' (Great Didactic), he outlined a system of schools that is the exact counterpart of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university. In the second place, the influence of Comenius was in formulating the general theory of education. In this respect, he is the forerunner of

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, Pestalozzi, Fröbel, etc., and is the first to formulate that idea of "education according to nature" so influential during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. The influence of Comenius on educational thought is comparable with that of his contemporaries, Bacon and Descartes, on science and philosophy. In fact, he was largely influenced by the thought of these two; and his importance is largely due to the fact that he first applied or attempted to apply in a systematic manner the principles of thought and of investigation, newly formulated by those philosophers, to the organization of education in all its aspects. The summary of this attempt is given in the ''Didactica Magna'', completed about 1631, though not published until several years later. The third aspect of his educational influence was that on the subject matter and method of education, exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature. The first-published of these was the ''Janua Linguarum Reserata'' (The Gate of Tongues Unlocked), issued in 1631. This was followed later by a more elementary text, the ''Vestibulum'', and a more advanced one, the ''Atrium'', and other texts. In 1658 the ''

Orbis Pictus ''Orbis Pictus'', or ''Orbis Sensualium Pictus'' (''Visible World in Pictures''), is a textbook for children written by Czech educator John Amos Comenius and published in 1658. It was the first widely used children's textbook with pictures, ...

'' was published, probably the most renowned and most widely circulated of school textbooks. It was also the first successful application of illustrations to the work of teaching, though not, as often stated, the first illustrated book for children. Relief Komensky

These texts were all based on the same fundamental ideas: (1) learning foreign languages through the vernacular; (2) obtaining ideas through objects rather than words; (3) starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce him to both the new language and the more remote world of objects; (4) giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in religious, moral, and classical subjects; (5) making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a pleasure rather than a task; and (6) making instruction universal. The importance of the Comenian influence in education has been recognized since the middle of the nineteenth century. The educational writings of Comenius comprise more than forty titles. In 1892 the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius was very generally celebrated by educators, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed.

Theology

John Amos Comenius was a bishop of the Unity of the Brethren church that had its roots in the teaching of Czech reformer

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...

. One of his most famous theological works is the '' Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart''. The book represents his thinking about the world being full of various useless things and complex labyrinths. The true peace of mind and soul can be found only in the one's heart where Christ the Saviour should dwell and rule. This teaching is also repeated in one of his last works, ''Unum Necessarium'' (Only One is Needed), where he shows various labyrinths and problems in the world and provides simple solutions to various situations. In this book he also admits that his former believing in prophecies and revelations of those days was his personal labyrinth where he got lost many times. He was greatly influenced by Boehme. In his ''Synopsis physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae'', Comenius gives a physical theory of his own, said to be taken from the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...

. He was also famous for his prophecies and the support he gave to visionaries. In his ''Lux in tenebris'' he published the visions of Christopher Kotterus, Mikuláš Drabík (lat. ''Nicolaus Drabicius'') and Kristina Poniatowska. Attempting to interpret the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

, he promised the millennium in 1672 and guaranteed miraculous assistance to those who would undertake the destruction of the Pope and the house of Austria, even venturing to prophesy that

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

, Gustavus Adolphus, and

prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania ( hu, erdélyi fejedelem, german: Fürst von Siebenbürgen, la, princeps Transsylvaniae, ro, principele TransilvanieiFallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the last d ...

, would perform the task. He also wrote to

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

, informing him that the empire of the world should be his reward if he would overthrow the enemies of God.

Family

One of his daughters, Elisabeth, married Peter Figulus from Jablonné nad Orlicí. Their son,

Daniel Ernst Jablonski Daniel Ernst Jablonski (20 November 1660, Nassenhuben (Mokry Dwór), Royal Prussia, Crown of Poland25 May 1741, Berlin) was a German theologian and reformer of Czech origin, known for his efforts to bring about a union between Lutheran and Ca ...

(1660–1741), Comenius's grandson, later went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1693; there he became the highest official pastor at the court of King

Frederick I of Prussia Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function h ...

(reigned 1701–1713). There he became acquainted with Count

Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (26 May 1700 – 9 May 1760) was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figu ...

(1700–1760). Zinzendorf was among the foremost successors to Comenius as a bishop (1737–1760) in the renewed

's Church.

Legacy

The Comenius Medal, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

award honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, commemorates Comenius.

Peter Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...

hailed Comenius as the inventor of

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

s and primers.

Czech Republic

During the 19th-century

Czech National Revival The Czech National Revival was a cultural movement which took place in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this movement was to revive the Czech language, culture and national identity. The most prominent figures o ...

, Czechs idealised Comenius as a symbol of the Czech nation. This image persists to the present day. The Czech Republic celebrates 28 March, the birthday of Comenius, as

Teachers' Day Teachers' Day is a special day for the appreciation of teachers, and may include celebrations to honor them for their special contributions in a particular field area, or the community tone in education. This is the primary reason why countries ce ...

. The University of Jan Amos Komenský was founded in Prague in 2001, offering bachelor's, master's and graduate degree programmes. Gate to Languages, a project of lifelong education, taking place in the Czech Republic from October 2005 to June 2007 and aimed at language education of teachers, was named after his book ''Janua linguarum reserata'' (Gate to Languages Unlocked). Comenius is pictured on the 200

Czech koruna The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro currenc ...

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

. Asteroid 1861 Komenský, discovered by

Luboš Kohoutek Luboš Kohoutek (, born 29 January 1935) is a Czech astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, including Comet Kohoutek which was visible to the naked eye in 1973. He also discovered a large number of planetary nebulae. Biography ...

, is named in his honor.

Elsewhere in Europe

, a teacher's college is named after him, which belongs to the

University of Miskolc The University of Miskolc (before 1990: ''Technical University of Heavy Industry'') is the largest university of Northern Hungary. Location Most of the buildings can be found in Egyetemváros ("University Town"), a part of the city of Miskolc. I ...

. Comenius' name has been given to primary schools in several

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

cities, including

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, Grafing, and

Deggendorf Deggendorf () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the Deggendorf district. It is located on the left bank approximately in the middle between the Danube cities of Regensburg and Passau. The Danube forms the town's natural border towards ...

. In

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

government built a school after a catastrophic 1963

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

and named it after Comenius (Jan Amos Komenski in Macedonian). In Poland, the Comenius Foundation is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the provision of equal opportunities to children under 10 years of age. In 1919

Comenius University Comenius University in Bratislava ( sk, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave) is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is name ...

was founded by an act of parliament in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, now in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. It was the first university with courses in Slovak. The Italian film director

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

took Comenius, and especially his theory of "direct vision", as his model in the development of his didactic theories, which Rossellini hoped would usher the world into a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...

n future. Comenius is a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

school partnership program. In the United Kingdom, the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

's Western Bank Library holds the largest collection of Comenius manuscripts outside of the Czech Republic. He is commemorated in the

Calendar of Saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

on 16 November.

United States

In 1892 Comenius Hall, the principal classroom and faculty office building on

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded in 1742, Moravian University ...

's campus in Pennsylvania, was built. In 1892 educators in many places celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed. The education department at

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational establ ...

in North Carolina has an annual ''Comenius Symposium'' dedicated in his honor; the subjects usually deal with modern issues in education. The Comenius Foundation in the US, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, uses film and documentary production to further faith, learning, and love.

Works

Latin

* ''Linguae Bohemicae thesaurus, hoc est lexicon plenissimum, grammatica accurata, idiotismorum elegantiae et emphases adagiaque'' ("Treasure of the

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech R ...

"), 1612–1656 * ''Problemata miscellanea'' ("Different Problems"), 1612, non-existent, perished in fire while being prepared for printing. * ''Sylloge quaestionum controversarum'', 1613 * ''Grammaticae facilioris praecepta'', 1614–1616 * ''Theatrum universitatis rerum'', 1616–1627 * ''Centrum securitatis'' ("The Center of Safety"), 1625 * ''Moraviae nova et post omnes priores accuratissima delineatio autore J. A. Comenio'' ("Map of Moravia"), 1618–1627 * ''

'', 1631 * ''Didactica magna'' ("The Great Didactic"), 1633–1638 * ''Via Lucis, Vestigata & Vestiganda'' ("The Way of Light"), 1641 * ''Januae Lingvarum Reseratae Aureae Vestibulum quo primus ad Latinam aditus Tyrunculis paratur'' ("Introduction to Latin"), 1648 * ''Schola pansophica'' ("School of Pansophy"), 1650–1651 * ''Primitiae laborum scholasticorum'', 1650–1651 * ''Eruditionis scholasticae janua, rerum & linguarum structuram externam exhibens'', 1656, doi:10.3931/e-rara-79809 (Digitized edition at e-rara). *'' Opera didactica omnia'' ("Writing on All Learning"), 1657 *''

'' ("The Visible World in Pictures"), 1658Trilingual (Latin, German and Hungarian) edition from 1669
/ref> * ''De bono unitatis et ordinis'' ("On Good Unity and Order"), 1660 * ''De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica'' ("General Consultation on an Improvement of All Things Human"), 1666 * ''Unum necessarium'' ("The One Thing Needful"), 1668 * ''Spicilegium Didacticum'', 1680

Czech

* ''O andělích'' ("About Angels"), 1615 * ''Retuňk proti Antikristu a svodům jeho'' ("Utterance against the Antichrist and his temptations"), 1617 * ''O starožitnostech Moravy'' ("About Moravian Antiquities"), 1618–1621 * ''Spis o rodu Žerotínů'' (Script about House of Žerotín), 1618–1621 * ''Listové do nebe'' ("Letters to Heaven"), 1619 * ''Manuálník aneb jádro celé biblí svaté'' ("Manual or Core of the Whole Holy Bible"), 1620–1623 * ''Přemyšlování o dokonalosti kŕesťanské'' ("Thinking About Christian Perfection"), 1622 * ''Nedobytedlný hrad jméno Hospodinovo'' ("Unconqerable Fortress (is) Name of the God"), 1622 * ''Truchlivý'', díl první ("The Mournful", volume I), 1623 * ''O poezí české'' ("About Czech Poetry"), 1623–1626 * ''Truchlivý'', díl druhý ("The Mournful", volume II), 1624 * ''O sirobě'' ("About Poor People"), 1624 * ''Pres boží'' ("Press of God"), 1624 * ''Vidění a zjevení Kryštofa Kottera, souseda a jircháře sprotavského'' ("Seeing and Revelation of Kryštof Kotter, Neibourgh of Mine and Tanner from Sprotava"), 1625 * ''Překlad některých žalmů'' ("Translation of Some Psalms"), 1626 * ''Didaktika česká'' ("Czech Didactic"), 1628–1630 * ''Škola hrou'' (Schola Ludus, School by Play) 1630 * ''Labyrint světa a ráj srdce'' (" Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart") 1631 * ''Trouba milostivého léta pro národ český'' ("The Horn of the Year of Jubilee"), 1631–1632 * '' Brána jazyků otevřená'' (The Gate of Languages Unlocked) 1633 * ''

'', 1658

References

External links

The Correspondence of Jan Amos Comenius [Komenský] (566 letters)
i
EMLO

J. A. Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod

The National Pedagogical Museum and Library of J.A. Comenius

Comenius Museum in Přerov

Comenius Museum & Mausoleum, Naarden, NL

Comenius' biography

Comenius Foundation. US

Article by the psychologist Jean Piaget on the importance of Comenius
(PDF)

Unum Necessarium: The One Thing Necessary
Translation by Vernon H. Nelson provided courtesy o
Moravian Archives
Winston-Salem, NC
''Dveře gazyků otewřené''
Praha: .n. 1805. 280 s. - available at ULB's Digital Library
''Janua Linguarum Reserata Quinque-Linguis''
Amstelodami : Apud Ludovicum & Danielem Elzevirios, 1661. 881 s. - available at ULB's Digital Library
''Janua Linguarum reserata aurea''
Pragae : Typis Archi-Episcopalibus in Collegio S. Norberti excudebat paulus Postrzibacz, Anno 1667. 506 s. - available at ULB's Digital Library * * * *
''Orbis sensualium pictus''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* - translation by

Charles Hoole Charles Hoole (1610–1667) was an English cleric and educational writer. He produced a visually-improved English translation of the ''Orbis Pictus'' of Comenius, a year after its original publication in 1658. Life The son of Charles Hoole of Wak ...

, at Google Book Search
Orbis sensualium pictus trilinguis. Latin, German and Hungarian, 1708

''Orbis sensualium pictus trilinguis''
Leutschoviae : Typis Samuelis Brewer, Anno Salutis 1685. 484 s. - - available at ULB's Digital Library
''Orbis Pictus, in hungaricum et germanicum translatus''
Po'sonban: Weber, 19. stor. 172 s. - available at ULB's Digital Library
''Orbis pictus von Amos Comenius''
ürnberg .n. 1770. 263 s. - available at ULB's Digital Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Comenius, John Amos 1592 births 1670 deaths 17th-century bishops 17th-century Bohemian people 17th-century Bohemian writers 17th-century Dutch philosophers 17th-century Latin-language writers 17th-century Protestant theologians All articles with unsourced statements Bishops of the Moravian Church Burials in North Holland Czech bishops Czech educational theorists Czech emigrants to the Dutch Republic Czech exiles Czech expatriates in Germany Czech expatriates in Hungary Czech expatriates in the Dutch Republic Czech male writers Czech people of Hungarian descent Czech people of the Moravian Church Czech philosophers Czech Protestant clergy Czech Renaissance humanists Czech schoolteachers Czech scientists Czech theologians Grammarians from the Czech Republic Heidelberg University alumni People from Uherské Hradiště District Philosophy and thought in the Dutch Republic Writers of the Moravian Church Philosophers of education Lutheran saints