Albert Szenczi Molnár
| Albert Szenczi Molnár | |
|---|---|
Albert Szenczi Molnár, 1624
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| Born |
Albert Molnár 30 August 1574 Szenc, Hungary (today: Senec, Slovakia) |
| Died | 17 January 1634 (aged 59) Kolozsvár, Transylvania (today: Cluj-Napoca, Romania) |
| Occupation | Pastor, author, theologian, translator |
| Notable work | Hanau Bible |
| Theological work | |
| Tradition or movement | Reformed, Calvinism |
Albert Szenczi Molnár (30 August 1574 – 17 January 1634) was a Hungarian Calvinist pastor, linguist, philosopher, poet, religious writer and translator.
Although he lived the largest part of his life abroad (Wittenberg, Strassburg, Heidelberg, Altdorf, Marburg and Oppenheim) 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: "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 pioneering Latin dictionary was after several revisions, still in use until the first half of the 19th century. He defined many literary and scientific technicalities in Hungarian language for the first time. His Hungarian grammar in Latin language was used as a guidebook until the 18th century, thereby - apart of its significance in history of science-his work greatly contributed to the unification of the Hungarian language and spelling. His psalm translations, the revised editions of the Vizsoly Bible, John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and the Heidelberg Catechism all represent living heritage. He had an outstanding effect on the Hungarian literature and versification.
His great-grandfather came from Székely Land and fought in the siege of Naples as a soldier of Matthias Corvinus. After the siege he settled in Pozsony County. He named his son according to his occupation as Molitoris, so Molnár. This was the name also of his grandson, who was the father of Albert Szenczi Molnár and lived in the market town of Szenc (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.
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