John Amos Comenius | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of the Unity of the Brethren | |
_(1592-1670)._Tsjechisch_humanist_en_pedagoog._Als_voorganger_van_de_Moravische_of_Boheemse_Broedergemeente_verdreven_en_sedert_1656_gevestigd_te_Amsterdam_Rijksmuseum_SK-A-2161.jpeg) Portrait, c. 1650–1670 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jan Amos Komenský Johann Amos Comenius 28 March 1592 |
| Died | 15 November 1670 (aged 78) Amsterdam, Holland, Dutch Republic |
| Denomination | Unity of the Brethren (Bohemian Brethren) Philosophy career |
| Education | Herborn Academy (1611–1613) University of Heidelberg (1613–1614) |
Main interests | Theology, philosophy of education |
Notable ideas | Pansophism |
John Amos Comenius (/kəˈmiːniəs/;[1] Czech: Jan Amos Komenský; German: Johann Amos Comenius; Polish: Jan Amos Komeński; Latinized: Ioannes Amos Comenius; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670)[2] was a Czech[3][4] philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education.[5][6] He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren (direct predecessor of the Moravian Church) before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.
Comenius introduced a number of educational concepts and innovations including pictorial textbooks written in native languages instead of Latin, teaching based in gradual development from simple to more comprehensive concepts, lifelong learning with a focus on logical thinking over dull memorization, equal opportunity for impoverished children, education for women, and universal and practical instruction. He also believed heavily in the connection between nature, religion, and knowledge, in which he stated that knowledge is born from nature and nature from God.[7]
Being lifelong proud of his origin from Moravia,[8][9] he nevertheless for most of his life – mainly due to the difficult wartime circumstances in the homeland and fear from religious persecution – lived and worked as an exile in various regions of the Holy Roman Empire and other countries: Sweden, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, England, the Netherlands and Hungary. An offer to immigrate to the New England and take up the presidency of the newly founded Harvard University he turned down.[10]
- ^ "Comenius". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ Daniel Murphy, Comenius: A Critical Reassessment of His Life and Works (1995), p. 8 and p. 43.
- ^ John Amos Comenius at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "John Amos Comenius (1592–1670)". J. A. Comenius Museum, Uherský Brod. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ "John Amos Comenius." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, 1972
- ^ HILL, ALAN G. (1975). "Wordsworth, Comenius, and the Meaning of Education". The Review of English Studies. XXVI (103): 301–312. doi:10.1093/res/xxvi.103.301. ISSN 0034-6551.
- ^ "Clamores Eliae" he dedicated "To my lovely mother, Moravia, one of her faithful son...". Clamores Eliae, p. 69, Kastellaun/Hunsrück : A. Henn, 1977.
- ^ "Moravian by nation, language Bohemian, profession theologian, servant of Gospel from the year of grace 1616." It is his own identification in "Opera omnia didactica" 1657, http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/comenius/comenius1/p3/jpg/s468.html
- ^ "John Amos Comenius". Harward Crimson. 4 March 1892. Retrieved 9 November 2024.