When Francis Skorina died. Francis Skaryna: interesting facts. Francysk Skaryna: interesting facts from life

The interview of the soloist of the NUTEKI group Mikhail Nokarashvili has published the “Year 500” project dedicated to the anniversary of the first Belarusian printed book - Skaryna's Bible.

For the third year in a row, Belarusian television has been publishing the author's cycle of television journalist Oleg Lukashevich “Epoch”. For the first time in history, this documentary project tells viewers about previously unknown pages of the biography of prominent personalities who glorified Belarus.

The premiere of the first film of the Epoch - about Marc Chagall - took place back in 2006. Then there were tapes about Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Adam Mitskevich, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Stanislav August Poniatowski, Louis Mayer ... Recently, another series was demonstrated: a new tape was dedicated to the world famous scientist Ignatius Domeyko.

The Ruska Bible, laid out by Dr. Francis Skorina from the glorious city of Polotsk

The book was published in Prague in the years 1517-1519, became the first printed edition in the West Russian version of the Church Slavonic language and in the East Slavic world.

In Russia, Ivan Fedorov is still revered (and, by the way, he had Belarusian roots) as a pioneer printer. But Francis Skaryna "from the glorious city of Polotsk" published his "Russian Bible" fifty years before Ivan Fedorov. And in it he clearly indicated that this book was “written for all Russian people”. Francisk Skaryna is a Belarusian and East Slavic first printer, translator, publisher and artist. The son of a people living on the European borderlands, he brilliantly combined the traditions of the Byzantine East and the Latin West in his work. Thanks to Skaryna, Belarusians received a printed Bible in their native language earlier than Russians and Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians, Serbs and Bulgarians, French and British ...

In 1517-1519 in Prague, Francysk Skaryna printed the Psalter and 23 books of the Bible translated by him in Cyrillic script in the Belarusian version of the Church Slavonic language. In 1522 in Vilno (now Vilnius) Skaryna published "Small travel book". This book is considered the first book printed on the territory that was part of the USSR. In the same place in Vilna in 1525, Francysk Skaryna published The Apostle. Fyodorov's assistant and colleague, Pyotr Mstislavets, studied with Skaryna.

Francisk Skorina - Belarusian humanist of the first half of the 16th century, medical scientist, writer, translator, artist, educator, first printer of the Eastern Slavs.

Not all the details of Skaryna's biography have survived to this day, there are still many "white spots" in the life of the great enlightener. Even the exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. It is believed that he was born between 1485 and 1490 in Polotsk, in the family of a wealthy Polotsk merchant Luka Skaryna, who traded with the Czech Republic, with Moscow Russia, with Polish and German lands. From his parents, the son took over the love for his native Polotsk, the name of which he later always used with the epithet "glorious." Francis received his primary education at his parents' house - he learned to read the Psalms and write in Cyrillic. It is believed that he learned Latin (Francis knew it brilliantly) at school at one of the Catholic churches in Polotsk or Vilna.

Skaryna, the son of a Polotsk merchant, received his first higher education in Krakow. There he took a course in "liberal sciences" and was awarded a bachelor's degree. Skaryna also received a Master of Arts degree, which then gave him the right to enter the most prestigious faculties (medical and theological) of universities in Europe. Scientists suggest that after the University of Krakow, during 1506-1512, Skaryna served as secretary to the Danish king. But in 1512 he left this position and went to the Italian city of Padua, at the university of which "a young man from very distant countries" (as the documents of that time say about him) received the degree of "Doctor of Medicine", which was a significant event not only in life of young Francis, but also in the history of culture of Belarus. Until now, in one of the halls of this educational institution, where there are portraits of famous men of European science, who came out of its walls, there is a portrait of an outstanding Belarusian made by an Italian master.

About the period 1512-1516 centuries. We do not know anything about the life of F. Skaryna. Modern scholars have suggested that at this time Skaryna traveled around Europe, got acquainted with typography and the first printed books, and also met with his genius contemporaries - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael. The basis for this is the following fact - one of Raphael's frescoes depicts a person very similar to Skaryna's self-portrait in the Bible he later published. Interestingly, Raphael wrote it next to his own image.

Since 1517 Skaryna lived in Prague. Here he started his publishing business and began printing Bible books.

The first printed book was the Slavic "Psalter", in the preface to which it is said: "I, Francysk Skorina, the son of glorious Polotsk, a doctor in medicinal sciences, commanded you to stamp the Psalter in Russian words, and in Slovenian language." At that time, the Belarusian language was called the "Russian language", in contrast to the Church Slavonic, called "Slovenian". The Psalter came out on August 6, 1517.

Then, almost every month, more and more volumes of the Bible were published: the Book of Job, Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes ... For two years in Prague, Francis Skaryna published 23 illustrated Bible books, translated by him into a language understandable to the general reader. The publisher provided each of the books with a preface and an afterword, included almost fifty illustrations in the Bible.

Around 1520 or a little later, the first printer returned to his homeland and founded the first East Slavic printing house in Vilna. Here the "Small travel book" was published, which is considered the first book published in the Belarusian lands (there is no exact date of the book's release). Here in 1525 the "Apostle" was printed, which turned out to be the last book of the first printer - during a fire in Vilna, Francis's printing house was destroyed. It was with this book that Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, both natives of Belarus, began Russian printing in Moscow 40 years later.

In 1534, Francis Skorina undertook a trip to the Moscow principality, from where he was expelled as a Catholic, and his books were burned (see the letter from 1552 of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Zhigimont II Augustus to Albert Krichka, his ambassador in Rome under Pope Julia III).

Around 1535, Francis Skorina moved to Prague, where he became the personal doctor and gardener of King Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who would later become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. 1540 is considered the year of death of the great enlightener.

Before the appearance of the well-known Ostroh Bible in Ukraine, Skaryna's editions were the only printed translations of the Holy Scriptures made in the territories of the Eastern and Southern Slavs. These translations became the subject of inheritance and alterations - all East Slavic publishing activity in the field of biblical texts was in one way or another oriented towards Skaryna. This is not surprising - in many ways, his Bible was ahead of similar publications in other countries: before the German Martin Luther, not to mention Polish and Russian publishers. It is noteworthy that the Bible was published in the Old Belarusian language, which largely determined the development of the Belarusian press. The famous “Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” were published in the language of Belarus.

A noticeable increase in attention to the heritage of antiquity is also associated with the name of Skaryna. He was almost the first in our area to attempt to synthesize antiquity and Christianity, and also proposed an educational program developed in Ancient Greece - the system of "Seven Free Sciences". Later, it was adopted by the fraternal schools of Ukraine and Belarus, developed and improved by the professors of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy and contributed a lot to the convergence of national culture with the culture of the West.

Fonts and engraved headpieces from Skaryna's Vilna printing house were used by book publishers for another hundred years.

It is not known exactly what Francis Skaryna did in Prague in the last years of his life. Most likely, he practiced as a doctor.

The exact date of his death has not been established; most scholars assume that Skaryna died around 1551, since in 1552 his son Simeon came to Prague for an inheritance.

Only four hundred copies of Skaryna's books have survived to this day. All publications are very rare, especially from Vilna. Rare books are kept in libraries and book depositories in Minsk, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Vilnius, Lvov, London, Prague, Copenhagen, Krakow.

The language in which Francysk Skaryna published his books was based on Church Slavonic, but with a large number of Belarusian words, and therefore was most understandable to the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For a long time, there was a heated scientific dispute among Belarusian linguists about which language, out of two options, Skorin's books were translated into: into the Belarusian edition (revision) of the Church Slavonic language or, under another version, into the church style of the Old Belarusian language. At present, Belarusian linguists agree that the language of translations of the Bible by Francysk Skaryna is the Belarusian edition (revision) of the Church Slavonic language. At the same time, the influence of the Czech and Polish languages is noticed in Skaryna's works.

Skaryna's Bible violated the rules that existed when rewriting church books: it contained texts from the publisher and even engravings with his image. This is the only such case in the history of Bible publishing in Eastern Europe. Because of the ban on self-translation of the Bible, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches did not recognize Skaryna's books.

Francysk Skaryna has been revered in Belarus for a long time. The life and work of F. Skorina is studied by a complex scientific discipline - scorology. His biography is studied in schools. Streets in Minsk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Nesvizh, Orsha, Slutsk and many other cities of Belarus are named after him. Gomel State University is named after F. Skorina. Monuments to the outstanding scientist have been erected in Polotsk, Minsk, Lida, Vilnius. The last of the monuments was recently installed in the capital of Belarus, next to the entrance to the new National Library.

In all schools of Polotsk a special subject - "Polotsk Studies" has been introduced, in which F. Skorina takes a worthy place. Events dedicated to the memory of the first printer are held in the city according to a separately drawn up plan.

Special awards have been introduced in Belarus - the Skaryna Medal (1989) and the Skaryna Order (1995).

Francysk Skorina - a scientist, educator-humanist of the Renaissance, left an indelible mark on the history of Russian culture, in the history of social and philosophical thought of the East Slavic peoples. He was one of the most highly educated people of his time: he graduated from two universities (Krakow and Padua), spoke several languages (besides his native Belarusian, he knew Lithuanian, Polish, Italian, German, Latin, Greek). He traveled a lot, his business trips were long and distant: he visited many European countries, visited more than a dozen cities. Skaryna was distinguished by an extraordinary breadth of views and depth of knowledge. He is a physician, botanist, philosopher, astronomer, writer, translator. And besides, he was a skillful "book-maker" - publisher, editor, typographer. And this side of his activity had a huge impact on the formation and development of Slavic book printing. In the history of the Russian book industry, Skaryna's activity acquires special significance. His first-born - "Psalter", published in Prague in 1517, is also the first Belarusian printed book. And the printing house, founded by him in Vilnius around 1522, is also the first printing house in the present territory of our country.

More than one century has passed since then. Time has irrevocably erased many facts from the biography of the Belarusian first printer in the memory of generations. The riddle arises at the very beginning of Skaryna's biography: the exact date of his birth is unknown (usually it is indicated: "about 1490", "before 1490"). But lately, in the literature, Skaryna's birth year is increasingly often referred to as 1486. This date was "calculated" as a result of the analysis of the publishing mark - a small elegant engraving often found in his books depicting a solar disk and a crescent moon running over it. The researchers decided that the first printer depicted the "death of the Sun" (solar eclipse), thus marking his birthday (in Skaryna's homeland, the solar eclipse was observed on March 6, 1486).

Polotsk, where Skaryna was born, was a large trade and craft city at that time on the Western Dvina, which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There were about fifteen thousand inhabitants in the city, who were mainly engaged in blacksmithing, foundry, pottery, trade, fishing, and hunting. Skaryna's father was a merchant, traded in leather and furs.

It is believed that Skaryna received his primary education in one of the Polotsk monastery schools. In autumn 1504 Skaryna went to Krakow. He successfully passes the entrance exams to the university and his name appears on the list of students - Francysk Lukich Skaryna from Polotsk. Skaryna studied at the faculty, where they studied traditional disciplines, combined into a strict system of seven "liberal arts": grammar, rhetoric, dialectics (these are formal or verbal arts), arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy (real arts). In addition to the listed disciplines, Skaryna studied theology, law, medicine, and ancient languages.

Krakow is the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, a city with a centuries-old Slavic culture. The flourishing of art, science, education contributed to the relatively early appearance of book printing here. At the beginning of the XVI century. there were twelve printing houses in Krakow. Particularly famous were the publications of the Krakow printer Jan Haller, whose activities were closely connected with the Krakow University - the printer supplied him with textbooks and literature. Perhaps Skaryna was familiar with Haller and from him received the first information about the publishing and printing business. Among those who awakened in young Skaryna a love for "black art" was the teacher of the faculty of "liberal arts" humanist Yan from Glogov, who himself showed an interest in printing.

The student years flew by quickly, and in 1506 Skaryna, having graduated from the University of Krakow, received the title of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and left Krakow.

At the beginning of 1967, the Academy of Sciences of the Byelorussian SSR received a parcel from Italy (from the University of Padua) - photocopies of documents and materials related to one important event in Skaryna's life. Documents testify that in the fall of 1512, a very scholarly but poor young man, a doctor of arts, from very distant countries, arrived in Padua ... medicine ". And further: "the young man and the aforementioned doctor bears the name of Francis, the son of the late Luka Skaryna from Polotsk." On November 5, the "Collegium of the Most Glorious Padua Doctors of Art and Medicine" admitted Skaryna to the tests, which took place on November 9 in the episcopal palace in the presence of the most prominent scientists of the University of Padua. The examinee passed the test brilliantly, answering the questions "commendably and flawlessly", arguing reasonably against controversial remarks. The College unanimously awarded him the title of Doctor of Medicine.

While in Padua, Skaryna could not, of course, miss the opportunity to visit neighboring Venice - a generally recognized center of European book printing, a city with numerous printing houses and established book publishing traditions. At that time, the famous Ald Manucius was still living and working in Venice, whose editions enjoyed all-European fame. Undoubtedly, Skaryna was holding aldins in his hands, and maybe, having become interested in the book business and making certain plans in this regard, he met with the great publisher himself.

Nothing is known about the next five years of Skaryna's life. Where did he stay all this time? What did you do during these years? Where did you go from Padua?

Scientists are trying to fill this gap with conjectures, assumptions. Some believe that Skaryna traveled as part of a diplomatic mission to the Danish capital Copenhagen, and then to Vienna. Others believe that Skorina traveled to Wallachia and Moldavia with the intention of organizing printing houses there. Still others argue that Skaryna came to Vilnius for a short time, where he tried to interest some wealthy citizens with his book publishing plans. Or maybe he immediately went from Padua to Prague with the firm intention of doing book publishing? ..

So, Prague. 151 7 By the middle of the summer Skaryna had basically completed all the preliminary work related to the organization of the printing house, and were ready to type the manuscript. On August 6, his first book, The Psalter, will be published. The preface to the book says: "... I am Francis Skaryna, the son of Polotsk in the medicinal sciences, the doctor ordered you to stamp the Psalms in Russian words and in Slovenian ..."

The Prague period of Skaryna's book publishing activity (1517-1519) was generally very eventful - he published nineteen more small books, which together with the Psalter compiled a major edition - the Russian Bible. Already in his first books, he showed a subtle understanding of the nature of book art. Skaryna perceived the book as an integral literary and artistic organism, where all the design techniques and used printing materials must fully correspond to the content of the book. Skaryna's Prague editions in terms of the level of artistic and technical design and typographic performance are not inferior to the best examples of European book publishers of that time and significantly surpass the previous books of the Church Slavonic press. Three books contain an engraving portrait of the publisher himself - Skaryna (you had to have a strong character in order to decide on such a daring act - to include an illustration of secular content in the liturgical book). The engraving is done very gracefully and, despite the many smallest details, the reader's attention is focused primarily on the human figure. Skaryna is depicted in a doctor's gown, an open book in front of him, rows of books to his right; in the office there are a lot of tools, devices: an hourglass, a lamp with a reflector, an armillary sphere - an astronomical goniometer ... translation into the spoken national language with the necessary comments and explanations.

Engraving from the "Russian Bible". Prague. 1517-1519

Nothing is known about Skaryna's Prague printing house. How was it equipped? Who else besides Skaryna himself worked in it? You can only establish its approximate location. In some of her books Skaryna points out where the printing house was located: “in the Old Town of Prague”. In this area of present-day Prague, on the right bank of the Vltava, in the labyrinths of ancient winding streets, there are many perfectly preserved ancient buildings. Perhaps the house where Skaryna began to publish books was lost among them.

Title page of "Akathists" on "Small Travel Book". Vilnius, around 1522

Around 1520 Skaryna moved to Vilnius, where “in the house of his venerable husband, the oldest steward of the glorious and great place of Vilnius,” Janub Babich founded a printing house and published two books - “Small Travel Book” and “Apostle”. Until recently, it was believed that both editions were published in the same year - 1525. Moreover, the following order was observed: first "Apostle", and then "Small travel book". But at the end of the fifties of this century, a sensational find was made in the Royal Library in Copenhagen - a complete copy of Paschalia, the last part of the Little Travel Book, was found. And on the fourteenth sheet of the copy, a calendar for 1523 was printed. Thus, it was established that the "Small Travel Book" is the first Russian printed book and it was published no later than 1522. This book is interesting in many ways. It was intended not only for liturgical purposes, but also for the needs of itinerant townspeople, merchants, and artisans. Small in format (8th part of the sheet) and volume, it contains a lot of generally useful advice on business affairs, medicine, and practical astronomy. Compared to the Prague editions, the Vilna books are much richer in design. Two-color printing is more widely used in them, the fonts are distinguished by great elegance. The books are decorated with a large number of large and small headpieces, the purpose of which was determined by the publisher himself: “For each kathisma there is a large outpost, and for each chapter there is a smaller outpost for the molded division of those who worshiped”. In other words, decorating the book, Skaryna sought not only to make it a highly artistic work of art, but also to help the reader quickly navigate the content.

In March 1525 Skaryna published The Apostle (the first Russian printed accurately dated book). At this, his publishing and printing activities, apparently, stopped. So far, no other books with his publisher's mark have been found. The next event in the life of the Belarusian first printer is purely everyday in nature: he gets married, participates in a lawsuit (division of property). In 1530, Albrecht, Duke of Prussia, invites Skaryna to his service. Skaryna goes to Konigsberg, but does not stay here for a long time: family affairs force him to return to Vilnius. Here he was again forced to participate in difficult court proceedings. For some time he held the post of secretary and personal physician of the Vilna bishop. In the mid-thirties, Skaryna left for Prague and served as a doctor and gardener at the royal court. Francis Skaryna died around 1540.

And Van Fedorov is revered in Russia as the first printer. But Francis Skaryna "from the glorious city of Polotsk" published his "Russian Bible" fifty years before Ivan Fedorov. And in it he clearly indicated that this book was “written for all Russian people”. Francisk Skaryna is a Belarusian and East Slavic first printer, translator, publisher and artist. The son of a people living on the European borderlands, he brilliantly combined the traditions of the Byzantine East and the Latin West in his work. Thanks to Skaryna, Belarusians received a printed Bible in their native language earlier than Russians and Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians, Serbs and Bulgarians, French and British ...

In general, the first books in Church Slavonic were published by Schweipolt Fiol in Krakow in 1491. These were: "Octoich" ("Octopus") and "Hours", as well as "Lenten Triode" and "Color Triod". It is assumed that the triodi (without a designated year of printing) was produced by Fiol before 1491.

In 1494, in the town of Obod on Lake Skadar in the principality of Zeta (now Montenegro), monk Macarius in a printing house under the patronage of Georgy Chernoevich published the first book in the Slavic language among the South Slavs, "Octoih the First-Head". This book can be seen in the sacristy of the monastery in Cetinje. In 1512, Macarius published the Gospel in Ugro-Wallachia (the territory of modern Romania and Moldavia).

Francisk Skorina - Belarusian humanist of the first half of the 16th century, medical scientist, writer, translator, artist, educator, first printer of the Eastern Slavs.

Since 1517 Skaryna lived in Prague. Here he started his publishing business and began printing Bible books.

The last fifteen years of Francysk Skaryna's life are full of hardships and hardships: for some time he serves with the Prussian Duke Albrecht the Elder in Konigsberg, then returns to Vilna, where his family lives. For the debts of her deceased brother, Skaryna is imprisoned in a Poznan prison. The Polish king Sigismund I frees him from court with a special letter. Around 1535, Francis Skorina moved to Prague, where he became the personal doctor and gardener of King Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who would later become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. 1540 is considered the year of death of the great enlightener.

Before the appearance of the well-known Ostroh Bible, Skaryna's editions were the only printed translations of the Holy Scriptures made in the territories of the Eastern and Southern Slavs. These translations became the subject of inheritance and alterations - all East Slavic publishing activity in the field of biblical texts was in one way or another oriented towards Skaryna. This is not surprising - in many ways, his Bible was ahead of similar publications in other countries: before the German Martin Luther, not to mention Polish and Russian publishers. It is noteworthy that the Bible was published in the Old Belarusian language, which largely determined the development of the Belarusian press. The famous “Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” were published in the language of Belarus.

Special awards have been introduced in Belarus - the Skaryna Medal (1989) and the Skaryna Order (1995).

Biography

Francis Skaryna was born in the second half of the 1480s in Polotsk (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) in the family of the merchant Luka. Researcher Gennady Lebedev, relying on the works of Polish and Czech scientists, believed that Skaryna was born around 1482.

He received his primary education in Polotsk. Presumably, in 1504 he becomes a student at the University of Krakow - the exact date is unknown, since the entry to which is traditionally referred to is “During the [period] of the rector's office of the venerable father of Mr. Jan Amycin from Krakow, Doctor of Arts and Canon Law, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See of the Bishop of Laodice and the suffragan of Krakow, as well as the pleban [church] of St. Nicholas outside the walls of Krakow, in the winter semester in the summer of the Lord 1504 the following [persons] are inscribed [...] Francis, son of Luke from P [o] Lotsk, 2 grosz ", may also refer to any Francis from the Polish city of Plock, especially since the sum of 2 grosz contributed by the "entrant" Francis, at that time was not large even for a merchant's son.

In 1506 Skorina graduated from the faculty of the "seven free arts" (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music) with a bachelor's degree, later received the title of a licentiate of medicine and a doctor's degree in "free arts", as evidenced by a clear act record: "Francis from Polotsk, Litvin."

After that, Skaryna studied for another five years in Krakow at the Faculty of Medicine, and defended his doctorate in medicine on November 9, 1512, having successfully passed the exams at the University of Padua in Italy, where there were enough specialists to confirm this protection. Contrary to popular belief, Skaryna did not study at the University of Padua, but arrived there precisely to pass the exam for a scientific degree, as evidenced by the university record dated November 5, 1512: very remote countries, perhaps four thousand miles or more from this glorious city, in order to increase the glory and splendor of Padua, as well as the thriving meeting of the philosophers of the gymnasium and our holy College. He turned to the College with a request to allow him, as a gift and a special favor, to undergo God's mercy trials in the field of medicine under this holy College. If, Excellencies, allow me, I will introduce him. The young man and the aforementioned doctor bears the name of Mr. Francis, the son of the late Luka Skorina from Polotsk, Rusyn ... ”On November 6, 1512, Skaryna passed trial tests, and on November 9, he brilliantly passed a special exam and received signs of medical dignity.

In 1517 he founds a printing house in Prague and publishes Psalter, the first printed Belarusian book in Cyrillic script. In total, during 1517-1519 he translated and published 23 books of the Bible. Skaryna's patrons were Bogdan Onkov, Yakub Babich, as well as the prince, the Trok voivode and the great Lithuanian hetman Konstantin Ostrozhsky.

In 1520 he moved to Vilna and founded the first printing house on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (VKL). In it Skaryna publishes "Small travel book" (1522) and "Apostle" (1525).

In 1525, one of the sponsors of the Vilna printing house, Yuri Odvernik, dies, and Skaryna's publishing activity stops. He marries Odvernik's widow Margarita (she died in 1529, leaving a small child). A few years later, one by one, the other patrons of Skaryna died - the Vilna mayor Yakub Babich (in whose house there was a printing house), then Bogdan Onkov, and in 1530 the Trok voivode Konstantin Ostrozhsky.

In 1525, the last master of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, secularized the Order and proclaimed in its place the secular Duchy of Prussia, a vassal to the King of Poland. The master was fascinated by the reformatory changes, which primarily concerned the church and school. For book publishing, Albrecht invited Francis Skaryna to Königsberg in 1529 or 1530. The duke himself writes: “Not so long ago we received the glorious husband Francis Skaryna from Polotsk, who arrived in our possession and the Prussian principality, a doctor of medicine, the most respected of your citizens as our subject, a nobleman and our beloved loyal servant. Further, since the affairs, property, wife, children whom he left with you - from here his name is, then, leaving there, he humbly asked us to entrust your guardianship with our letter ... ”.

In 1529, Francis Skaryna's elder brother Ivan dies, whose creditors filed property claims to Francis himself (apparently, hence the hasty departure with a letter of recommendation from Duke Albrecht). So, Skaryna did not stay in Konigsberg, and after a few months he returned to Vilnius, taking with him a printer and a Jew-doctor. The purpose of the act is unknown, but Duke Albrecht was offended by the "theft" of the specialists, and already on May 26, 1530, in a letter to the Vilna governor Albert Hoshtold, he demanded that these people be returned to the duchy.

On February 5, 1532, the creditors of the late Ivan Skorina, having filed a complaint with the Grand Duke and King Sigismund I, sought the arrest of Francis for his brother's debts under the pretext that Skorina allegedly hides the property inherited from the deceased and constantly moves from place to place (although In fact, Ivan's son Roman was the heir, but the creditors, most likely, did not lie about the frequent relocations). Francysk Skaryna spent several months in a Poznan prison, until his nephew Roman achieved a meeting with the king, to whom he explained the case. On May 24, 1532 Sigismund I issues a decree on the release of Francysk Skaryna from prison. On June 17, the Poznan court finally decided the case in favor of Skaryna. And on November 21 and 25, King Sigismund, having sorted out the case with the help of Bishop Jan, issues two privileged letters (privileges), according to which Francysk Skaryna is not only recognized as innocent and receives freedom, but also all kinds of benefits - protection from any legal prosecution (except for royal order), protection from arrest and complete inviolability of property, exemption from duties and city services, as well as "from the jurisdiction and power of each and every one separately - governors, kashtelians, elders and other dignitaries, unlikely and all judges."

Around 1535, Skaryna moved to Prague, where she most likely worked as a doctor or, unlikely, as a gardener at the royal court. The widespread version that Skaryna held the position of royal gardener at the invitation of King Ferdinand I and founded the famous garden in Hradcany has no serious grounds. Czech researchers, and after them foreign architectural historians, adhere to the canonical theory that the "Garden on the Castle" (see Prague Castle) was founded in 1534 by the invited Italians Giovanni Spazio and Francesco Bonaforde. The closeness of the names of Francesco - Francis gave rise to a version of Skaryna's gardening activities, especially since the correspondence between Ferdinand I and the Bohemian Chamber clearly states: "Master Francis", "Italian gardener", who received the calculation and left Prague around 1539. However, in the letter of 1552 of Ferdinand I to the son of the then late Francis Skaryna Simeon there is a phrase “our gardener”.

It is not known exactly what Francis Skaryna did in Prague in the last years of his life. Most likely, he practiced as a doctor.

The exact date of his death has not been established; most scholars assume that Skaryna died around 1551, since in 1552 his son Simeon came to Prague for an inheritance.

Fonts and engraved headpieces from Skaryna's Vilna printing house were used by book publishers for another hundred years.

Based on materials from the Internet

Francisk Skaryna is a famous Belarusian pioneer printer and educator. Over a 40-year career, he tried his hand at medicine, philosophy, gardening. He also traveled a lot, came to Russia, communicated with the Prussian duke.

The life of Francysk Skaryna, whose photo is included in our article, was very eventful. At a young age, he went to study science in Italy, where he became the first Eastern European graduate to receive the title of Doctor of Medicine. He was raised in the Catholic faith, but he studied Orthodoxy. Skaryna became the first person who started translating the Bible into the East Slavic language, understandable for his people. Until that time, all church books were written in the Church Slavonic language.

Bible translations into Slavic languages

The first translations of biblical books were made by Cyril and Methodius in the second half of the 9th century. They translated from the Byzantine Greek copies into Church Slavonic (Old Slavonic), which they also developed, using their native Bulgarian-Macedonian dialect as a basis. A century later, other Slavic translations were brought from Bulgaria to Russia. In fact, starting from the 11th century, the main South Slavic translations of biblical books became available to the Eastern Slavs.

Biblical translations made in the XIV-XV centuries in Bohemia also influenced the translation activities of the Eastern Slavs. The Czech Bible was translated from the Latin language, it was widely distributed throughout the XIV-XV centuries.

And at the beginning of the 16th century, Francis Skaryna translated the Bible into Church Slavonic in the Belarusian edition. This was the first translation of the Bible close to the vernacular.

Origin

Francis (Francishek) Skaryna was born in Polotsk.

Comparison of university acts (entered the University of Krakow in 1504, and in the act of the University of Padua dated 1512, he is presented as a "young man") suggests that he was born around 1490 (possibly in the second half of the 1480s ). The biography of Francysk Skaryna is far from fully known to researchers.

They believe that the origin of the Skaryna surname is associated with the ancient word "soon" (skin) or "skorina" (crust).

The first reliable information about this family is known from the end of the 15th century.

Francis' father, Lukyan Skaryna, is mentioned in the list of Russian ambassadorial claims in 1492 against the Polotsk merchants. Francysk Skaryna had an older brother Ivan. A royal decree calls him both a Vilnius bourgeois and a Polotsk. The godfather of the Belarusian pioneer printer is also unknown. In her editions Skaryna uses the name “Francis” more than 100 times, occasionally “Francishek”.

Below is a portrait of Francysk Skaryna, printed by him in the Bible.

Life path

Skaryna received his primary education at his parents' home, where he learned to read and write in Cyrillic according to the Psalter. He learned the language of the science of that time (Latin), most likely, at the church of Polotsk or Vilna.

In 1504, an inquisitive and enterprising Polotsk resident entered the university in Krakow, which at that time was famous in Europe for its Faculty of Liberal Arts, where they studied grammar, rhetoric, dialectics (the Trivium cycle) and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (the Quadrivium ").

Studying at the university allowed Francysk Skaryna to understand what a broad outlook and practical knowledge the "seven liberal arts" bring to a person.

All this he saw in the Bible. He directed all his future translation and publishing activities to make the Bible accessible to the "people of the Pospolita".

In 1506 Skaryna received his first bachelor's degree in philosophy.

Around 1508 Skaryna served as secretary to the Danish king.

To continue her studies at the most prestigious faculties of European universities (medical and theological), Skaryna also needed to become a master of arts.

It is not known exactly in which of the universities this happened: in Krakow or some other, but in 1512 he arrived in Italy at the famous University of Padua, already having a master's degree in liberal sciences. Skaryna chose this educational institution to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

The poor but capable young man was admitted to the exams. For two days, he participated in disputes with prominent scientists, defending his own ideas.

In November 1512, in the episcopal palace, in the presence of well-known scientists of the University of Padua and the highest officials of the Catholic Church, Skaryna was declared a doctor in the field of medical sciences.

It was a significant event: the son of a merchant from Polotsk was able to prove that abilities and vocation are more important than aristocratic origin. His portrait, created in the middle of the 20th century, is in the memorial hall among 40 portraits of famous European scientists who graduated from the University of Padua.

Skaryna also had a doctorate in liberal sciences. Western European universities called it the "seven liberal sciences."

A family

In a short biography of Francysk Skaryna, there is a mention of the fact that after 1525 the first printer married Margarita, the widow of a Vilna merchant, a member of the Vilna council, Yuri Advernik. During this time he served as a doctor and secretary to the bishop in Vilna.

The year 1529 was very difficult for Skaryna. In the summer, his brother Ivan died in Poznan. Francis went there to deal with issues related to the inheritance. In the same year, Margarita suddenly died. In the hands of Skaryna, a young son, Simeon, remained.

In February 1532, Francis was arrested on unfounded and unsubstantiated charges by the late brother's creditors and ended up in the Poznan prison. Only at the request of the late Ivan's son (Roman's nephew) was he rehabilitated.

Francysk Skaryna: interesting facts from life

It is assumed that in the late 1520s - early 1530s, the first printer visited Moscow, where he took his books published in Russian. Researchers of Skaryna's life and career believe that in 1525 he traveled to the German city of Wittenberg (the center of the Reformation), where he met with the ideologue of German Protestants, Martin Luther.

In 1530 Duke Albrecht invited him to Königsberg for book printing.

In the mid-1530s, Skaryna moved to Prague. The Czech king invited him to the position of gardener in the open botanical garden in the royal castle of Hradcany.

Researchers of the biography of Francysk Skaryna believe that during the Czech royal court he most likely performed the duties of a qualified scientist-gardener. The title of doctor "in medicinal sciences", received by him in Padua, required a certain knowledge of botany.

From 1534 or 1535, Francis in Prague worked as a royal botanist.

Perhaps due to insufficient knowledge, other interesting facts about Francysk Skaryna remained unknown.

Book publishing and educational activities

In the period from 1512 to 1517. the scientist appeared in Prague - the center of Czech printing.

To translate and publish the Bible, he needed not only to become familiar with Czech biblical studies, but also to thoroughly know the Czech language. In Prague, Francis orders printing equipment, after which he begins to translate the Bible and write commentaries on it.

Skaryna's book publishing activities combined the experience of European book printing and the traditions of Belarusian art.

The first book of Francysk Skaryna is the Prague edition of one of the biblical books, the Psalter (1517).

F. Skorina made a translation of the Bible into a language close to Belarusian, and understandable to ordinary people (Church Slavonic in the Belarusian edition).

With the support of philanthropists (they were the burgomaster of Vilnius Yakub Babich, advisers Bogdan Onkav and Yuri Advernik), he published 23 illustrated books of the Old Testament in the Old Russian language in 1517-1519 in Prague. In sequence: Psalms (08/06/1517), Job (10/6/1517), Solomon Proverbs (10/6/2517), Jesus Sirachab (12/5/1517), Ecclesiastes (01/01/1518), Song of Songs (01/09/1517), book The Wisdom of God (01/19/1518), First Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Second Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Third Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Fourth Book of Kings (08/10/1518), Joshua (12/20/1518) ), Judith (02/09/1519), Judges (12/15/1519), Genesis (1519), Exit (1519), Leviticus (1519), Ruth (1519), Numbers (1519), Deuteronomy (1519), Esther (1519) , Lamentations of Jeremiah (1519), Prophet Daniel (1519).

Each of the biblical books came out in a separate issue, with a title page, had its own preface and afterword. At the same time, the publisher adhered to the unified principles of text presentation (the same format, typesetting band, font, decoration). Thus, he provided for the possibility of combining all publications under one cover.

The books contain 51 printed prints of an engraving on paper from a plate (board) on which the drawing is applied.

Three times in the books of Francysk Skaryna, his own portrait was printed. No other Bible publisher has ever done this in Eastern Europe.

According to the researchers, the seal (coat of arms) of Skaryna, the doctor of medicine, is placed on the title page of the Bible.

The translation, made by the first printer, is canonically accurate in conveying the letter and spirit of the biblical text, which does not admit the interpreter's liberties and additions. The text preserves the state of the language corresponding to the Hebrew and Ancient Greek originals.

The books of Francysk Skaryna laid the foundation for the standardization of the Belarusian literary language, became the first translation of the Bible into the East Slavic language.

The Belarusian enlightener knew well the works of the famous clergy at that time, for example, St. Basil the Great - Bishop of Caesarea. He knew the works of John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian, to whom he refers. Its publications are Orthodox in content and are intended to meet the spiritual needs of the Orthodox population of Belarus.

Skaryna strove to give his commentaries on the Bible a simple and understandable form. They contain information about historical, everyday, theological, linguistic circumstances and realities. In the theological context, the main place in the prefaces and afterwords written by him was occupied by the exagéza - the explanation of the content of the books of the Old Testament as a forerunner and prophecy of New Testament events, the victory of Christianity in the world and the hope of eternal spiritual salvation.

The photo below shows the coin of Francysk Skaryna. It was released in 1990 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the glorious Belarusian pioneer printer.

The first Belarusian book

Around 1520, Francis founded a printing house in Vilnius. Perhaps, he was forced to move the printing house to Vilna by the desire to be closer to his people, for the education of which he worked (in those years, the Belarusian lands were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The head of the Vilnius magistrate, "the most senior burgomaster" Jakub Babich took the space for the printing house to Skaryna in his own house.

The first Vilna edition - "Small travel book". This name Skaryna gave to the collection of church books he published in Vilnius in 1522.

In total, the "Small Travel Book" includes: Psalter, Book of Hours, Akathist to the Holy Sepulcher, Canon of the life-giving Sepulcher, Akathist to Archangel Michael, Canon to Archangel Michael, Akathist to John the Baptist, Canon to John the Baptist, Akathist to the Mother of God, Canon to the Holy Mother, Akaathist Canon to Saints Peter and Paul, Akathist to Saint Nicholas, Canon to Saint Nicholas, Akathist to the Lord's Cross, Canon to the Lord's Cross, Akathist to Jesus, Canon to Jesus, Shastidnevets, Canon of Penitence, Canon on Saturday at Matins, “Cathedrals”, as well as the general afterword “Written speeches in this Small Travel Book ".

This was a new type of collection in East Slavic literary writing, addressed to both clergy and secular people - merchants, officials, artisans, warriors, who, due to their activities, spent a lot of time on the road. These people needed spiritual support, useful information, and, if necessary, the words of prayers.

The Psalter (1522) and “Apostle” (1525) published by Skaryna constitute a separate group of books not translated, but adapted from other Church Slavonic sources, with an approach to folk speech.

Edition of the "Apostle"

In 1525 Skaryna published in Vilnius in Cyrillic one of the most widespread books - "The Apostle". This was his first precisely dated and last edition of the publication, the release of which was a logical and logical continuation of the work of publishing biblical books, which had begun in Prague. Like the Small Travel Book, the Apostle of 1525 was intended for a wide range of readers. In many prefaces to the book, and in total, the enlightener wrote 22 prefaces and 17 afterwords to the "Apostle", describes the content of sections, individual epistles, explains "dark" expressions. The entire text is preceded by a general preface by Skaryna, "By the act of peace, the apostle of the book of predmov." It praises the Christian faith, draws attention to the moral and ethical norms of social human life.

Worldview

The views of the enlightener say that he was not only an enlightener, but also a patriot.

He contributed to the spread of writing and knowledge, which can be seen in the following lines:

"Every person should read, because reading is a mirror of our life, medicine for the soul."

Francysk Skaryna is considered the founder of a new understanding of patriotism, which is seen as love and respect for their homeland. Of the patriotic statements, the following words of his are noteworthy:

“Even from birth, the beasts that walk in the desert know their holes; the birds that fly through the air know their nests; ribs floating on the sea and in rivers, smell their own vira; bees and the like to harrow their hives, - so do people, and where the essence of Bose was born and nurtured, to that place I have great mercy ”.

And it is to us, today's residents, his words are addressed so that people

"... they did not fury any work and government officials for the good and for the Fatherland."

His words contain the wisdom of the life of many generations:

"The law that is born in that we observe it more happens: then we can fix it for others that we love to eat from everyone else, and that we don’t fix it with something else that you yourself don’t want from others ... This law is born in the series of the One of every person”.

Activity value

Francysk Skaryna was the first to publish a book of psalms in Belarusian, that is, he was the first to use the Cyrillic alphabet. This happened in 1517. Two years later, he translated most of the Bible. In different countries there are monuments, streets and universities that bear his name. Skaryna is one of the outstanding people of the era.

He largely contributed to the formation and development of the Belarusian language and writing. He was a highly spiritual person for whom God and man are inseparable.

His achievements are of great importance for culture and history. Reformers like John Wycliffe translated the Bible and were persecuted in the Middle Ages. Skaryna was one of the first humanists of the Renaissance to take on this task again. Indeed, his Bible was ahead of Luther's translation by several years.

According to the public's admission, this was not yet a perfect result. The Belarusian language was just developing, so the text retained elements of the Church Slavonic language, as well as borrowings from Czech. In fact, the educator created the foundations of the modern Belarusian language. Let us remind you that he was only the second scientist to print in Cyrillic. His elegant prefaces are among the first examples of Belarusian poetry.

For the first printer, the Bible had to be written in an accessible language so that not only learned people, but also ordinary people could understand it. The books he published were intended for lay people. Many of the ideas he expressed were similar to those of Martin Luther. Like the Protestant reformers, the Belarusian educator understood the importance of new technologies in the dissemination of his ideas. He headed the first printing house in Vilna, and his projects were of great importance outside Belarus.

Skaryna was also an excellent engraver: bright woodcuts depicting biblical figures in traditional Belarusian dress helped illiterate people understand religious ideas.

During his lifetime, Francis Skaryna was not widely known throughout the world, since there has never been an Orthodox reformation in world history. After his death, the situation has changed little. He did not destroy his familiar world as decisively as Luther did. In fact, Skaryna himself probably would not have been able to understand the idea of the reformation. Despite his innovative use of language and art, he had no desire to completely destroy the structure of the Church.

However, he remained popular with his compatriots. Nationalists of the 19th century drew attention to him, who wanted to emphasize the importance of the “first Belarusian intellectual”. Skaryna's work in Vilna gave grounds to demand that the city gain independence from Poland.

The photo below shows a monument to Francysk Skaryna in Minsk. Monuments to the Belarusian first printer are also in Polotsk, Lida, Kaliningrad, Prague.

Last years

The last years of his life, Francysk Skaryna was engaged in medical practice. In the 1520s, he was a doctor and secretary to the Vilna bishop Jan, and already in 1529, during an epidemic, he was invited to Konigsberg by the Prussian duke Albrecht Hohenzollern.

In the mid-1530s at the Czech court, he took part in the diplomatic mission of Sigismund I.

The first printer died no later than January 29, 1552. This is evidenced by the letter of King Ferdinand II, given to the son of Francis Skaryna Simeon, which allowed the latter to use all the preserved heritage of his father: property, books, promissory notes. However, the exact date of death and the place of burial have not yet been established.

Below in the photo is the Order of Francysk Skaryna. It is awarded to citizens for educational, research, humanitarian, charitable activities for the benefit of the Belarusian people. The award was approved on 13.04. 1995 year.

Great educator and modernity

At present, the highest awards of Belarus are named after Skaryna: an order and a medal. Also, educational institutions and streets, libraries and public associations are named after him.

Today, the book heritage of Francysk Skaryna includes 520 books, many of which are in Russia, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. About 50 countries have publications of the Belarusian first printer. There are 28 copies in Belarus.

In 2017, which was dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing, the country managed to return a unique monument - "Small travel book".

For some time it was believed that the second estate of Francysk Skaryna was the name George. For the first time, they began to talk about this in the second half of the 19th century, after in 1858 there were published copies of two letters of the King and Grand Duke Sigismund I in Latin. In one of them, the Latin adjective egregium stood before the name of the first printer, meaning "excellent, famous", in the second, the meaning of the word egregium was given as georgii. This single form served as the basis for some researchers to believe that Skaryna's real name was Georgy. And only in 1995 the Belarusian historian and bibliologist Georgy Golenchenko found the original text of Sigismund's privilege, in which the famous fragment “with Georgy” was stated as follows: “… egregium Francisci Scorina de Poloczko artium et medicine doctoris”. The scribal error sparked controversy over the name of the first printer for more than 100 years.

Biography

Francysk Skaryna was born at the end of the 15th century in Polotsk, one of the largest cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the family of the merchant Luka. Researcher Gennady Lebedev, relying on the works of Polish and Czech scientists, believed that Skorina was born around 1482, Grigory Golenchenko - around 1490 or in the second half of the 1480s.

He received his primary education in Polotsk. He studied Latin at the school of Bernardine monks, which worked at the monastery.

Presumably, in 1504 he becomes a student at the Krakow Academy (University), but the exact date of admission to the university is unknown. In 1506, Skorina graduated from the Faculty of Free Arts with a bachelor's degree, later received the title of Licentiate of Medicine and the degree of Doctor of Free Arts.

In 1520 he moved to Vilna, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where he founded the first printing house on the territory of the state. In it Skaryna in 1522 publishes "Small travel book", and in 1525 "Apostle".

In 1525, one of the sponsors of the Vilna printing house, Yuri Odvernik, dies, after which Skaryna's publishing activity stops. He marries Odvernik's widow Margarita (she died in 1529, leaving a small child). A few years later, one by one, other patrons of Skaryna die - the Vilna mayor Yakub Babich (in whose house there was a printing house), then Bogdan Onkov, and in 1530 the Trok voivode Konstantin Ostrozhsky.

In 1525, the last master of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, secularized the Order and proclaimed a secular Prussian duchy, vassal to the Kingdom of Poland. The master was fascinated by the reformatory changes, which primarily concerned the church and school. For book publishing, Albrecht invited Francis Skaryna to Königsberg in 1529 or 1530. The duke himself writes: “Not so long ago we received the glorious husband Francis Skaryna from Polotsk, who arrived in our possession and the Prussian principality, a doctor of medicine, the most respected of your citizens as our subject, a nobleman and our beloved loyal servant. Further, since the affairs, property, wife, children whom he left with you - from here his name is, then, leaving there, he humbly asked us to entrust your guardianship with our letter ... ”.

In 1529, Francis Skaryna's elder brother Ivan dies, whose creditors filed property claims to Francis himself (apparently, hence the hasty departure with a letter of recommendation from Duke Albrecht). Skaryna returned to Vilna, taking with him a printer and a Jewish doctor. The purpose of the act is unknown, but Duke Albrecht was offended by the "theft" of specialists and already on May 26, 1530, in a letter to the governor of Vilna Albrecht Gashtold, demanded the return of the people.

On February 5, 1532, the creditors of the late Ivan Skaryna, having filed a complaint with the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund I, achieved the arrest of Francis for his brother's debts under the pretext that Skaryna allegedly hid the property inherited from the deceased and constantly moved from place to place (although in fact, the heir was Ivan's son Roman). Francysk Skaryna spent several months in a Poznan prison, until his nephew Roman achieved a meeting with the king, to whom he explained the case. On May 24, 1532 Sigismund I issues a privilege about the release of Francysk Skaryna from prison. On June 17, the Poznan court finally decided the case in favor of Skaryna. And on November 21 and 25, Sigismund, having figured out the case with the help of Bishop Jan, issues two privileges, according to which Francysk Skaryna is not only recognized as innocent and receives freedom, but also all kinds of benefits - protection from any legal prosecution (except according to the royal order), protection from arrests and complete inviolability of property, exemption from duties and city services, as well as "from the jurisdiction and power of each and every one separately - voivods, kashtelians, elders and other dignitaries, unlikely officials and any judges."

In 1534, Francis Skaryna undertook a trip to the Moscow principality, from where he was expelled as a Catholic, and his books were burned.

The exact date of his death has not been established; most scholars assume that Skaryna died around 1551, since in 1552 his son Simeon came to Prague for an inheritance.

Books

The language in which Francysk Skaryna published his books was based on Church Slavonic, but with a large number of Belarusian words, and therefore was most understandable to the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For a long time, there were discussions among Belarusian linguists about the language into which Skorin's books were translated: into the Belarusian edition (revision) of the Church Slavonic language or into the church style of the Old Belarusian language. At present, Belarusian linguists agree that the language of translations of the Bible by Francysk Skaryna is the Belarusian edition (revision) of the Church Slavonic language. At the same time, the influence of the Czech and Polish languages is noticed in Skaryna's works.

The title page of the Bible reflects, according to the researchers, the image of Skaryna's official seal as a doctor of medicine. The main content of this image of the "Solar Moon" is the acquisition of knowledge, physical and spiritual treatment of a person. Next to the coat of arms is the sign "scales", which is formed by the letter "T", which means "microcosm, man", and the triangle "delta" (?), Which symbolizes the scientist and the entrance to the Kingdom of knowledge.

Fonts and engraved headpieces from Skaryna's Vilna printing house were used by book publishers for another hundred years.

Views

The views of Francysk Skaryna testify to him as an educator, patriot, humanist. In the texts of the Bible, the enlightener Skaryna appears as a person who promotes the expansion of writing and knowledge. This is evidenced by his call to reading: "And every person needs honor, he never eats the mirror of our life, the medicine for the soul, fun for all the vague ones, they are in trouble and weakness, true hope ...". Francysk Skaryna is the initiator of a new understanding of patriotism: as love and respect for one's Fatherland. From a patriotic point of view, the following words are perceived: “Beasts walking in deserts know their own holes, birds flying in the air know their nests because of their birth; Ribs, sailing in the sea and in rivers, smell their own vira; bees and the like to harrow their hives - so are people, and where the essence of the Bose was born and accelerated, to that place I will have great affection ”.

The humanist Skaryna left his moral covenant in the following lines, which contain the wisdom of human life and human relationships: “The law that is born in that we obey is painstakingly: then fix it to others that you like to eat from everyone else, in total you cannot fix it with someone else that you don’t want. from others have ... This law is inborn eats in the heart of a single person. "

The prefaces and afterwords in the Bible by Francysk Skaryna, where he reveals the deep meaning of biblical ideas, are saturated with concern for the rational ordering of society, the upbringing of a person, and the establishment of a dignified life on earth.

Religion

Catholicism

Skaryna could have been a Catholic, since among the books he published during the Prague period (1517-1519) were those that were not included in the Orthodox biblical canon ("Proverbs about the wise king Solomon" (1517), "Song of Songs" (1518) ). The language of the Prague editions is close to the Old Belarusian language (contemporaries called it "Russian", hence the "Bible of Russian"). In the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Skaryna's books were burned as heretical and written on the territory subject to the Roman Church, and Skaryna himself was exiled precisely as a Catholic. The publishing activity of Skaryna was criticized by the Orthodox prince Andrei Kurbsky, and after his emigration from the Moscow principality. There is also another curious document - a letter of recommendation from the Roman cardinal Iosaph to the Polotsk archbishop about a certain John Chrysans Skaryna, written in Rome. It says that His Serene Highness and esteemed brother John Chrysansom Skaryna, who is to deliver the message to his Eminence Archbishop of Polotsk, was trained in “this city collegium”, was elevated to the rank of priest and “returned” to the diocese. Perhaps this Ioann Chrysans Skaryna was a Polotsk resident and was a relative of Francis Skaryna. It can be assumed that the Skaryns clan was still Catholic. And then it seems quite logical that the first printer Skaryna bore the Catholic name Francis. It is worth noting, however, that although the document was originally published in 1558, later the researcher G. Galenchenko established that the date was reported with an error and the document should be attributed to the 18th century. The realities mentioned in the document, in particular the existence of the Catholic Polotsk diocese, are in agreement with this.

Orthodoxy

Skaryna could have been Orthodox. The facts and arguments in favor of Skaryna's Orthodox faith are just as numerous and just as indirect. Firstly, there is information that in Polotsk until 1498, when the Bernardine monastery was founded, there was simply no Catholic mission, so Skaryna's baby baptism was unlikely to have taken place according to the Catholic rite.

Books of the Vilna period (1522-1525) were printed in the Old Belarusian version of the Church Slavonic language (for Skaryna's contemporaries and even centuries later, it was a “Slovene” language - see “Aramma? Tiki of Glory? This can explain their compliance with Orthodox canons. In his publications, biblical translator Skaryna divided the "Psalter" into 20 kathisma according to the Orthodox tradition, which is absent in Western Christianity. In the "Saints" from "Small travel book", where Skorina adheres to the Orthodox calendar, he cited the days of memory of Orthodox saints - the Eastern Slavic saints Boris, Gleb, Theodosius and Anthony of the Caves, some South Slavic saints (Savva Serbian). However, there are no Catholic saints there, including the expected St. Francis. Some of the names of the saints are given in folk adaptation: "Larion", "Olena", "Hope". The most thoroughly such materials are presented by M. Ulyakhin, who emphasized the absence of representatives of the Western Church among the saints called the Enlightener; introduction to the text of the translation of "Psalms" 151 psalms, which corresponds to the Orthodox canon; the absence in the Creed of a filioque recognized by Catholics and Protestants; adherence to the Jerusalem (and Studio) statutes, which were used by Orthodoxy; finally, direct statements: "Confirm, O God, the holy Orthodox faith of Orthodox Christians in the century of the century", etc., in prayer turns, placed in the "Small travel book". It should be remembered, on the other hand, that Schweipolt Fiol, who was himself an unquestionably Catholic, also published books for Orthodox divine services; therefore, the audience argument is not absolute.

Evidence in favor of the "Orthodox" version can also be found in the fact that the act of awarding insignia in facultate medicine - a certificate (or diploma) of medical dignity - was not signed in the church of Padua. According to the theory of V. Agievich, in European Catholic universities, Catholics were awarded signs of dignity in the church, and other, non-Catholics in Epali palatio in loco solito - in places determined by the charter of the university. So Skaryna was awarded the diploma "in the established place of the episcopal palace", and not in the church, which indicates his non-involvement in the Catholic confession.

Protestantism

There is also a theory that Francis Skaryna was associated with Hussism, a proto-reformation movement. The reformers of the 16th century considered Skaryna to be their comrade-in-arms. Symon Budny and Vasil Tyapinsky referred to him in their works. In the documents of the 17th-18th centuries, Skaryna is referred to as a Protestant. An interesting fact is that a copy of Skorin's "Small Travel Book" from the collection of the British Library (London) bears an ex-libris of Paul Speratus (1484-1551), a companion of Martin Luther: in 1524 Paul Speratus arrived in Prussia on the recommendation of Luther and became there the main leader of the reformation, and from 1530 he became the Lutheran bishop of Pomezania. It is believed that Skaryna gave this copy to Bishop Speratus when he visited Königsberg in 1530. It is also characteristic that the Prussian reformer Duke Albrecht invited Francis Skaryna to Königsberg, although he could find specialists in printing and medicine among fellow believers and compatriots.

The Slovenian linguist Kopitar, in a work published in Slovakia in 1839 in Latin, referring to the works of contemporary researchers of Lutheranism, suggested not only Skaryna's meeting with Martin Luther in Wittenberg at dinner at Philip Melanchthon's house, but also some intrigues that Skaryna built against Luther. And at the same time he doubted this theory: “If only someone [carefully] considered the fact that in 1517-19 in Bohemian Prague, Doctor of Medicine of the University Francysk Skorina published the Russian Bible with taste and after that in 1525 in Vilna other numerous Lithuanian-Russian church books, then he would not have born a completely natural assumption that this suspicion related to this doctor Skaryna, a Greek Catholic who, translating from the Vulgate, was an opponent of Luther, who translated from the original. And for this very reason, he [Skaryna] could most of all be unpleasant to this reformer, a Protestant, and also married. "

Memory

In the Republic of Belarus, Francisk Skorina is considered one of the greatest historical figures. The highest awards of the country are named in his honor: a medal and an order. The university in Gomel, the central library, the pedagogical school, the gymnasium № 1 in Polotsk, the gymnasium № 1 in Minsk, the non-governmental public association "Society of the Belarusian Language" and other organizations and objects bear his name. Monuments to him stand in Polotsk, Minsk, Lida, Kaliningrad and Prague.
At different times, five streets of Minsk bore the name of Francysk Skaryna: in 1926-1933 - Kozmodemyanskaya street; in 1967-1989 - Olesheva Street, in 1989-1997 - Akademicheskaya Street, in 1991-2005 - Independence Avenue, since 2005 the former Staroborisovsky tract has been named after Skorina. Also, a lane (1st lane of Skaryna) bears the name of Skaryna.
The central avenue and a street in Polotsk are also named after Francysk Skaryna.
The minor planet No. 3283, discovered by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh, is named after F. Skorina.
I, Francis Skaryna ... - a film dedicated to Francysk Skaryna, played by Oleg Yankovsky.

Gallery

In memory of Francysk Skaryna

Monument in Polotsk

Monument in Minsk

Postage stamp of the USSR, 1988

Jubilee coin, USSR, 1990

The Francysk Skaryna Medal is the oldest Belarusian medal, established in 1989

Order of Francis Skaryna