Albert Szenczi Molnár | |
|---|---|
 Albert Szenczi Molnár, 1624 | |
| Born | Albert Molnár 30 August 1574 |
| Died | 17 January 1634(1634-01-17) (aged 59) |
| Occupation(s) | Pastor, author, theologian, translator |
| Notable work | Hanau Bible |
| Theological work | |
| Tradition or movement | Reformed, Calvinism |
Albert Szenczi Molnár (30 August 1574 – 17 January 1634)[1] was aHungarianCalvinist pastor,linguist, philosopher, poet, religious writer and translator.
Although he lived the largest part of his life abroad (Wittenberg,Strassburg,Heidelberg,Altdorf,Marburg andOppenheim) and the majority of his work was born there, Albert Szenczi Molnár contributed his work to the benefit of his country. Quoting his friends he wrote in one of his letters:[2]
Everybody says and confirms that by publishing a single dictionary, being longed for by the whole studentship in Hungary, I can serve my country a lot more than by teaching the youth and vicarage for some years.
His pioneeringLatin-Hungarian dictionaries (Dictionarium Latinovngaricvm andDictionarivm Vngarico-Latinvm, both 1604), were, with several revisions, still in use until the first half of the 19th century. He defined much literary and scientific terminology in theHungarian language for the first time. His Hungarian grammar in Latin (Nova Grammatica Ungarica) was used as a guidebook until the 18th century, through which – apart from its significance in the history of science – his work greatly contributed to the unification of Hungarian language and spelling. His Psalm translations, the revised editions of theVizsoly Bible,John Calvin'sInstitutes of the Christian Religion and theHeidelberg Catechism all represent living heritage. He had an outstanding influence on Hungarian literature and poetry.
His great-grandfather came fromSzékely Land and fought in the siege ofNaples as a soldier ofMatthias Corvinus. After the siege he settled inPozsony County. He named his son according to his occupation as Molitoris, soMolnár. This was the name also of his grandson, who was the father of Albert Szenczi Molnár and lived in the market town ofSzenc (today:Senec, Slovakia) and worked as a mason miller. At the time of Albert's birth his father was quite rich but soon he became poor. After his death in 1603 his family lived in extreme poverty.[3]
Albert Molnár began his studies in his hometown on 7 September 1584. After the death of his mother in 1585 he was studying inGyőr for five months, for one and a half years starting from 1587 inGönc, and finally from 1588 until the summer of 1590 inDebrecen. InGönc as the company ofGáspár Károli he was present at the translation and printing of the Vizsoly Bible. In Debrecen István Csorba was his teacher.[4]
In 1590 at first he was a preceptor inKassa (today:Košice, Slovakia), and then on 1 November he went on a field trip abroad. First of all he visited the birthplace of reformation,Wittenberg. In the summer of 1591 he studied inDresden in the Holy Cross high school (Gymnasium zum Heiligen Kreuz), in autumn again inWittenberg, and finally inHeidelberg in 1592. On 1 May he travelled toStrasbourg, where he was accepted to the Collegium Wilhelmiticum as an alumnus. In the summer of 1596 he visitedGeneva, where he met the elderlyTheodore Beza. When returning to Strasbourg he continued his studies, but in the same year due to his Calvinism, he was banished from that Lutheran town. He returned toGermany only after a long journey inSwitzerland andItaly. On 4 December 1596 he was accepted to the Casimirianum at Heidelberg as a student of theology. On 22 January 1597 he matriculated to university, where he studied until 1599.[5]
At the end of October 1599, after nine years of wandering abroad he returned home to obtain patrons among the Protestant nobility. He stayed in Szenc until 1600, and traveled all aroundUpper Hungary. In March 1600 he went back to Germany, and turned up in several cities (Altdorf,Heidelberg,Speyer, andFrankfurt). Since 23 November he studied inHerborn (Hesse). He got his certificate fromJohannes Piscator on 19 July 1601 who wanted him to be a teacher of the institution, but it was not possible. In 1601 he worked as a proofreader for Johannes Saur's publishing house, and in 1602 as a tutor inAmberg. On 23 January he enrolled to theUniversity of Altdorf and started writing his Latin-Hungarian dictionary. He gave the first part of the dictionary toRudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, and when the book was published he traveled toPrague to show it to the monarch personally. Here he received respectable honor and was welcomed by many people, includingJohannes Kepler. The emperor's advisers wanted him to convert to theRoman Catholic religion, so they sent him toUniversity of Vienna with 50Forints reimbursing his traveling expenses. WhenStephen Bocskay's War of Independence broke out he returned to theHoly-Roman Empire.[6]
In Germany he was patronized by two Protestant monarchs, Elector PalatineFrederick IV andMaurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. In 1606 in Heidelberg Frederick ordered an alimentation for him at the teachers' desk, and from 1607 to 1611 was given bed and board by Maurice at his own expense inMarburg. Szenczi wrote his Hungarian grammar (1604) for Maurice who spoke Hungarian and was highly educated, and published it again in 1611 extended with aGreek glossary. His psalm translations also appeared in this period, as well as the Heidelberg Catechism (1607), and theHanau Bible (1608), which is the revised version of the Vizsoly Bible. On 8 October 1611 he married Kunigunda von Ferinar fromLuther's family who was the ex-wife of a teacher called Conrad Vietor. They had 2 sons and 4 daughters (1612, John Albert, 1614: Elizabeth, 1617 Mary Magdalene, 1618, Paul, 1620: Elizabeth Kunigunda, 1623: Mary Elizabeth). Probably in 1611–12 he worked as a proofreader inOppenheim. In 1612 a week after of his son's baptism he left toHungary, where he attended the synod ofKöveskút.[7]
For a while he worked as a printing supervisor in his wife's birthplace in Oppenheim. Then in 1613 he moved to Hungary with his family, where he worked as a pastor, at first inVárosszalónak and then inRohonc. Since he did not manage to establish a printer's workshop there, he made himself invited who appointed him as a professor of the college inGyulafehérvár (today:Alba Iulia, Romania), but because of his family he moved back to Germany. According to art historian Samu Benkő it is conceivable that Szenczi performed a diplomatic mission forGabriel Bethlen: the monarch wanted to get in touch with theProtestant Union that way. Szenczi was appointed as a cantor of the church ofSaint Sebastian in October 1615, as well as a teacher of the school, then in 1617 its rector by the son of his old patronFrederick V, Elector Palatine. By his administrative job he continued his work with the Hungarian Calvinistic literature.[8]
Due to theThirty Years' War he lost his home, and moved to the royal court in Heidelberg. The city was ravaged byCount Tilly's soldiers after theBattle of White Mountain; Szenczi was also pillaged and tortured, so he decided to migrate to Hanau. Here he published the translated edition of theInstitutes of the Christian Religion commissioned by Gabriel Bethlen. After a trip toNetherlands he got an invitation from Bethlen again in 1624, so he finally returned home. Since 1625 he lived in Kassa and since 1629 inKolozsvár (today:Cluj-Napoca, Romania). During his subsequent stay in Hungary he lived in poverty and was later completely forgotten. The new monarchGeorge I Rákóczi did not support him effectively. In January 1634 he died ofplague. A Latin poem byJohann Heinrich Bisterfeld is engraved on his tombstone.[9]
