Jonas Bretkūnas

Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann(es) Bretke, also known as Bretkus (born 1536 in Bammeln near Friedland – 1602 Königsberg) was a Lutheran pastor and was one of the best known developers of the written Lithuanian language. He translated the Bible into Lithuanian, was the author of twelve Lithuanian books, and a historian as well.

Jonas Bretkūnas, Johann(es) Bretke was born in Prussia in 1536. His father was German (according to Gerullis) or Germanized Prussian, 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 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 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 Königsberg and the area became one of the centers of learning for the neighboring peoples of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, none of them had bibles in their language up to that time. As the Duke of Prussia, 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 at the University of Königsberg. In 1556, he transferred to Wittenberg University. During his studies, in 1562, he was appointed a Lutheran pastor at Labiau (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's analog, and the translation took more than ten years to complete, with tens of thousands of correction notes. Between 1578–1579, he wrote the Chronicles of Prussian Lands (Chronicon des Landes Preussen) in German.

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