Samuel Bogusław Chyliński ( lt, Samuelis Boguslavas Chilinskis) (1631–1668) was the
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
and
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of the first translation of the
Bible into Lithuanian.
Life
Samuel Bogusław Chyliński born in
Šventežeris to a family of a Calvinist preacher Adrian Chyliński (1586–1656) and mother from the Lithuanian nobleman Minvydas branch. Samuel spoke Lithuanian since his childhood.
Apparently Chyliński studied in
Franeker
Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12, ...
,
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
, The Netherlands, before 1651 and was later staying in
Britsum
The village of Britsum is located in the municipality of Leeuwarden (province of Friesland), in the Netherlands. Britsum was built on an artificial bank ('' terp'') running along the eastern side of the former '' Middelzee''. The church, built arou ...
, Friesland according to an inscription in the church register of Britsum of 1651, in which a ''D'' (''dominee'' = vicar) is put before his name. Since 1657 Chyliński studied in Oxford.
As a main source and reference for his Lithuanian Bible translation Chyliński used the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
''
Statenvertaling
The ''Statenvertaling'' (, ''States Translation'') or ''Statenbijbel'' (''States Bible'') was the first translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages into Dutch, ordered by the Synod of Dordrecht 1618 and financed ...
''. He produced his work in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and printed it in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. 15 Oxford
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
s signed a
certificate that Chylinski was "a learned and polite scholar". In 1659, Chyliński published a pamphlet ''An account of the translation of the Bible into the Lithuanian tongue'' in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in which he claimed to have translated the whole of the Bible. The aim of the pamphlet was to raise funds for the printing of his translation. The printing of the translation started in 1660, but was interrupted due to disagreements among Lithuanian Protestants.
Translation of the Bible
There are known three printed copies of Chylinski’s Bible - The Old Testament. The so-called Berlin copy is missing since World War II, the Vilnius copy has been lost since 1918, the only one surviving fragment of The Old Testament (176 pages) is in the British Library’s collections. The manuscript of The New Testament translation has also survived and being stored in the British Library.
References
Links
interactive digital version of Chylinski’s translation of the New Testament
See also
*
Lithuanian literature
Lithuanian literature ( lt, lietuvių literatūra) concerns the art of written works created by Lithuanians throughout their history.
History Latin language
A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in ...
*
Jonas Bretkūnas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chylinski, Samuel Boguslaw
1631 births
1668 deaths
People from Alytus County
Translators of the Bible into Lithuanian
Alumni of the University of Oxford
17th-century translators