Atanasije Dimitrijević Sekereš ( sr-Cyrl, Атанасије Димитријевић Секереш) or Athanasius Demetrovich Szekeres (18 January 1738, in
Győr
Győr ( , ; ; 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 region, and – halfwa ...
, today's
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...
– 30 April 1794, in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
) was a
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular
**Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans
** Serbian language
** Serbian culture
**Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...
jurist, writer, and first
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the populat ...
priest and later
Uniate
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
cleric, and Imperial-Royal Illyrian Court Deputation Councilor and censor of all Serbian, Romanian, Greek and Armenian books printed in the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
. A proponent of
enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism, also called enlightened despotism, refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhanc ...
, he held the office of censor of the Illyrian Deputation for two decades and was responsible for printing and reprinting hundreds of books during the reigns of
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...
,
Joseph II
Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...
,
Leopold II, and
Francis II Francis II may refer to:
* Francis II, Duke of Brittany (1433–1488)
* Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua (1466–1519), ruler of the Italian city of Mantua
* Francis II of France (1544–1560), king of France
* Francis II, Duke of Lorraine ...
.
Biography
He was born in Györ on the 18 of January 1738 and baptized in the
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
. His father, a small peasant-farmer, died when Atanasije was in his teens. He was brought up to farm work, but he cultivated all his leisure in reading, and when he was seventeen entered the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
Law School where he picked up Latin and German. Gradually, and by dint of infinite patience and concentration, the young man became a master of many languages, namely German, Hungarian, Romanian, Greek, Slovak, Russian, and Old
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
, all languages commonly read and spoken in the empire among Eastern Orthodox Slavs and their co-religionists. Atanasije was a pragmatist who eventually in mid-1776 converted to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
(Uniate) in order to secure his future. But, from then on he became one of the most hated and vilified persons amongst his