Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann(es) Bretke, also known as Bretkus (born 1536 in Bammeln near Friedland – 1602

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

was a Lutheran pastor and was one of the best known developers of the written

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

. He translated the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into Lithuanian, was the author of twelve Lithuanian books, and a historian as well.

Biography

Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann(es) Bretke was born in Bammeln (now in

Pravdinsky District Pravdinsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, fifteen in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the south of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrati ...

) in the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of Poland) in 1536. His father was German (according to Gerullis) or Germanized Prussian,Bretkūnas ir jo svarbiausias rankraštis
/ref> and his mother from a native Prussian family. The language spoken in the area was primarily German, while Jonas Bretkūnas' mother tongues were

Old Prussian Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...

and Lithuanian. Lithuanian language was also used in state chancellery as well. Different people, who had come to Lutheran Prussia did at the time, because the

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

had promised to preach in languages people understood rather than Latin. The Duke of Prussia therefore arranged for the education and studies of languages for pastors. In 1544, Duke Albrecht, had founded the Albertina University in

(Karaliaučius) and the area became one of the centers of learning for the neighboring peoples of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, none of them had bibles in their language up to that time. As the Duke of

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

, the first Lutheran state, Albrecht supported the translations of the Bible into these languages. In 1555, when Bretkūnas was nineteen years of age, he began studying

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the university of

. In 1556, he transferred to

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

University. During his studies, in 1562, he was appointed a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor at Labiau (Labguva) (now Polessk) by Duke Albert. He was the first pastor at Labiau who could give sermons in Prussian and the Lithuanian language. Before that pastors often employed ''Tolken'', who translated the sermons directly to the congregation. In 1563, Bretke married Frl. von Werthern. It was a rural, poor parish and pastors were expected to make their own living by receiving some farm land. Bretkūnas was not at all inclined to farming and wanted to spend all his time on language studies and translations. In 1579, he started translating the handwritten Bible from German using

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's analog, and the translation took more than ten years to complete, with tens of thousands of correction notes. Between 1578 and 1579, he wrote the Chronicles of Prussian Lands (''Chronicon des Landes Preussen'') in German. After living twenty-five meager years in Labiau, Bretke (Jonas Bretkūnas) applied for a position as pastor at another Prussian town, but was in 1587 transferred to a Lithuanian language parish in Königsberg as pastor. He continued with his translation of the Bible and other scholarly works. In 1589, he published several new works, in particular ''"Giesmes duchaunos"'' (Spiritual Hymns), based on

Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 – 21 May 1563) was a Protestant author who edited the first printed book in the Lithuanian language. Variants of his name include Martinus Masvidius, Martinus Maszwidas, M. Mossuids Waytkūnas, Mastwidas, Mažvyda ...

' works, as well as a small collection of hymns called ''"Kancionalas netukriu giesmiu"'', and a prayer book translation from German into Lithuanian ''"Kollectas"'', all printed by Georg Osterberg of Königsberg. On November 29, 1590, Bretke-Bretkūnas finally completed his translation of the Bible (Old and New Testaments). It is the first surviving translation of the Bible into the Lithuanian language. The matter of publishing this Bible was discussed by the Lutheran college, but he failed to receive permission to publish it. Later the manuscripts of the Bretkūnas Bible were purchased by Duke Georg Friedrich. In 1591, he finished the Postilla ( Postilė), one of his best known works, consisting of two parts. In his final years Bretkūnas continued to unsuccessfully lobby for the publication of his Bible, but in 1602 he died.

Notable works of Johannes Bretke/Jonas Bretkūnas

*Chronicon des Landes Preussen, 1578–1579 *Giesmės duchaunas, 1589 *Kollectas, alba Paspalitas Maldas, 1589 *Kancionalas nekurių giesmių, 1589 *Biblia, 1590 *, 1591 Examples of surviving manuscripts or books can be found in Germany, Lithuania and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. His Postilla work is kept at

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

, Lithuania. The only one surviving example of ''"Kancionalas netukriu giesmiu"'' is at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, Sweden. Bretkūnas' Bible is kept in Prussian Privy State Archive, Berlin, Germany. In 2002, in order to commemorate his translation, the original manuscripts of his Bible was brought to Lithuania from Germany, insured for more than 2,3 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

.Jonas Bretkūnas – lietuviškos Biblijos vertėjas

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretkunas, Jonas 1536 births 1602 deaths People from Pravdinsky District People from the Duchy of Prussia Lithuanian Lutheran clergy Lithuanian writers Linguists from Lithuania Balticists Lithuanian translators Translators from Latin Translators to Lithuanian History of the Lithuanian language Translators of the Bible into Lithuanian Lithuanian-language writers