Where and when was Francis Skorina born? Francisk Skorina: biography, personal life, books, interesting facts from life

04.05.2016

Any resident of Belarus knows who Francisk Skaryna is. Moreover, this name once thundered throughout Europe, and today it is highly respected far beyond the borders of Belarus, because Francysk Skorina founded the first printing house in Eastern Europe. And what other interesting facts from the life of Francysk Skaryna can we learn from history textbooks?

1. Until now, many secrets are kept by the biography of this amazing person. In particular, it is not known for certain when exactly he was born and when he died. Among historians, it is customary to consider the date of birth of the first printer to be 1490, and the date of farewell to the earthly vale is 1551.
2. Francis Skaryna was born into a relatively wealthy family. His father was engaged in trade, actively engaged in buying and selling with German lands, with Poland, as well as with Moscow Russia. At the same time, when in order to obtain an education of a higher level than the knowledge generally accepted in the Middle Ages, Skaryna needed to enter a higher educational institution, he managed to make only the most modest contribution. However, the young man was accepted.
3. Francis was born into a family of Orthodox Christians. However, then he had to change his religion to Catholicism - this way he made his way into science easier: it was easier for a Catholic to get into the then higher educational institution of Eastern Europe and graduate without hindrance.
4. The first printer was engaged not only in publishing books. He showed remarkable talent in painting, botany, medicine. In Padua, Skaryna was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine Sciences.
5. Francis Skaryna knew several languages \u200b\u200band traveled extensively throughout Europe.
6. It was Skaryna who published the first printed Bible, the style of presentation in which was as close as possible to the simple national language. He wanted to make knowledge available to “simple, well-to-do people” (that is, not rich, modest).
7. Skaryna provided each of his editions with illustrations, as well as a preface, which made it possible to better understand the content of the book.
8. In his trips around the world, Francis Skaryna met with the most famous people that time. So, some publications claim that evidence of his conversations with Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo has been preserved. In addition, he may have seen Raphael.
9. An interesting story is connected with the name of Raphael. Researchers, studying the legacy of the great artist, discovered that one of his frescoes depicts a person very similar to Francysk Skaryna. Moreover, Rafael drew Skaryna next to his own image.
10. A number of historians are of the opinion that Skaryna also visited Russia. He brought books there. But their fate, unfortunately, turned out to be sad: the dark and deaf Middle Ages had not yet let the world out of its clutches. The books were declared heretical and burned.
11. There is a version (although it is rather doubtful) that Skaryna is the founder of the heliocentric concept of the world. Perhaps the scientist really did make his own conclusions regarding this issue, but still, if you follow the historical truth, then the primacy here should be given to Copernicus.
12. Francis and his brother were in common financial affairs, jointly engaged in book publishing. When my brother passed away, there were many debts left. The then justice was not used to sorting out for a long time, and Francisk Skaryna was thrown into prison for the debts of a relative. The scientist had to spend 10 weeks there. Who knows how the matter would have ended if not for the intervention of King Sigismund, who freed Skaryna.
13. In our time, about 4 hundred books have been preserved, published by the publishing house of Francysk Skaryna. Some of them are kept in his homeland, some - in London, and a few copies "settled" in museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These are truly rare, unique editions.

The Belarusian people have every right to be proud of their outstanding compatriot. Even an order named after him was established there. Only the most worthy receive this award - only those who donate their talent for the good of their people selflessly work in the field of education and culture.

Francysk Skaryna is an outstanding figure of Belarusian culture of the 16th century, the founder of Belarusian and East Slavic book printing, whose versatile activity was of general Slavic significance. Scientist, writer, translator and artist, Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine, humanist and educator Francysk Skorina had a significant impact on the development of many areas of Belarusian culture.

His publishing activity met the requirements of the time and the broad strata of the Belarusian population and, at the same time, expressed the deep organic unity of the entire East Slavic culture, which was an integral part of the spiritual treasury of all European peoples.

Francisk Skaryna was born in Polotsk.

The exact date of his birth is unknown. It is believed that he was born around 1490. However, according to the representative of the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Vl.

Vl. Agnevich, F. Skaryna's date of birth is April 23, 1476. In other scientific sources, this date of his birth was not confirmed. On the contrary, most of the writers point out that F. Skorina was actually born in 1490. This assumption is based on the existence in those days of the custom of sending boys to study at universities, as a rule, at the age of 14-15 years.

But the university administration did not pay much attention to the age of the schoolboy; the year of birth was not recorded, because it obviously did not have a significant meaning. It is possible that F. Skaryna was an overgrown student.

Perhaps, this is where the exceptional seriousness with which he treated his studies, and later cultural and scientific activities, originates.

It is believed that F.

Skaryna got in the house of his parents, here he learned to read the Psalter and write in Cyril letters. From his parents he took over love and respect for his native Polotsk, a name that he later always reinforced with the epithet "glorious", got used to be proud of the people "pospolite", the people of the "Russian language", and then came to the idea of \u200b\u200bgiving his fellow tribesmen the light of knowledge, to introduce them to cultural life Europe. To do science, F.

Skaryna needed to master Latin - the then language of science. Therefore, there is reason to believe that he had to study at a school at one of the Catholic churches in Polotsk or Vilna for a certain time.

In 1504. an inquisitive and enterprising citizen of Polotsk went to Krakow, entered the university, where he studied the so-called liberal sciences, and after 2 years (in 1506) he received his first bachelor's degree.

In order to continue his studies, F. Skaryna also needed to obtain a Master of Arts degree. He could have done this in Krakow or in some other university (exact information has not been found). The master's degree in free arts gave Skorina the right to enter the most prestigious faculties of universities in Europe, which were considered medical and theological.

This education already allowed him to get a position that provided him with a quiet life.

It is believed that around 1508 F. Skaryna temporarily served as secretary to the Danish king. In 1512 he was already in the Italian city of Padua, whose university was famous not only for its medical faculty, but also as a school for humanistic scientists.

At a meeting of the medical college of the university in the church of St. Urban, a resolution was adopted on the admission of poor, but capable and educated Ruthenian Francis Skaryna to the exam for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For two days, F. Skorin defended his scientific theses in disputes with outstanding scientists and on November 9, 1512, he was unanimously recognized as worthy of the high title of medical scientist. Records of the examination report have been preserved, where, in particular, it is said: "He proved himself so commendable and excellent during the strict test, setting out the answers to the questions asked to him and rejecting the evidence put forward against him, that he received the unanimous approval of all the scientists present, without exception, and was recognized with sufficient knowledge in the field of medicine. "

Later, he will always call himself: "in the sciences and medicine, the teacher," "in the medicinal sciences, Doctor", "scientist" or "the chosen husband." This was a significant event in his life and in the history of the culture of Belarus - a merchant's son from Polotsk confirmed that abilities and vocation are more valuable than aristocratic origins.

Although he is poor, he is capable, persistent and businesslike, he is the one who, with his work, will, overcame difficulties and rose to the heights of medieval education.

After the scholarly triumph, information about F. Skaryna is lost again for as much as 5 years.

Somewhere between 1512 and 1517 F. Skorina appears in Prague, where since the time of the Hussite movement there was a tradition of using biblical books in the formation of public consciousness, the establishment of a more just society and the education of people in a patriotic spirit.

It is hypothesized that F. Skaryna, even after completing his studies at the University of Krakow, could live and continue his studies in Prague. Indeed, in order to translate and publish the Bible, he needed to get acquainted not only with Czech biblical studies, but also thoroughly study the Czech language. Therefore, only those who knew its scientific publishing environment could choose Prague as a place for organizing book printing.

In Prague, F. Skaryna orders printing equipment, starts translating and commenting on Bible books. An educated and businesslike citizen of Polotsk laid the foundation for Belarusian and East Slavic book printing.

On August 6, 1517, the Psalter was published, then a new book of the Bible was published almost every month. In two years he published 23 illustrated books. At the dawn of typography (Gutenberg invented typesetting only in the middle of the fifteenth century), such a pace was impossible without prior preparation.

Probably, Skaryna already had a manuscript of all the books of the Bible in his native language, which he did for several years after studying in Italy.

The Bible published by F. Skorina in its translation into the Old Belarusian language is a unique phenomenon. The prefaces and afterwords written by him captured a developed sense of the author's self-awareness, patriotism, unusual for that era, supplemented by a sense of historicism that was unusual for the ancient world, but characteristic of a Christian, an awareness of the uniqueness of every event in life.

The design of Skaryna's books is also impressive.

The publisher included almost fifty illustrations in the first Belarusian Bible. Numerous splash screens, other decorative elements that are in harmony with page layout, font and title pages.

In his Prague editions there are many ornamental decorations and about a thousand graphic initials. Later, in publications published in his homeland, he used more than a thousand such initials.

The uniqueness of the first Belarusian Bible also lies in the fact that the publisher and commentator placed his portrait, complex in composition and symbolic meaning, in the books.

Skaryna, Francis

According to some researchers, the hypothesis about the heliocentric system is encrypted in the symbolic engravings ... If you think about it, this does not cause much surprise. Francis Skaryna has a lot in common with Nicolaus Copernicus. At about the same time, they studied not only in Poland, but also in Italy.

Both studied medicine. Perhaps they did. But the main thing is different. F. Skorina and N. Copernicus are the founders of modern times, they were both products of the same spiritual and historical environment.

F. Skaryna's books are a unique phenomenon of world culture: there is no complete collection of his original editions in any library in the world. Czech editions (23 books) became publicly available after their facsimile reproduction by the publishing house "Belorusskaya Encyclopedia" in the early 1990s.

Last year, on the initiative of the German Slavist Hans Rote, a facsimile reprint with theoretical and textological commentaries of an even rarer edition by F.

Skaryna "Apostle".

Around 1521 Skaryna returned to his homeland, founded the first East Slavic printing house in Vilna.

The very next year he publishes "Small Travel Book", where he combined the Psalter, texts of church services and hymns, as well as astronomical church calendar... In March 1525, he published The Apostle (Acts and Epistles of the Apostles) there. 40 years later, Ivan Fedorov and Pyotr Mstislavets, both natives of Belarus, began Russian printing with this book in Moscow.

For almost ten years Skaryna has been combining two positions - secretary and doctor - with the Vilna bishop, the illegitimate royal son.

At the same time, he does not leave publishing, and is engaged in trade with his brother. F. Skaryna does not stop traveling. He visits Wittenberg to the founder of German Protestantism, Martin Luther.

It was at this time (1522-1542) that the founder of Lutheranism was translating and publishing the Protestant Bible into German. In addition, he was a doctor of theology, and Skaryna was deeply interested in socio-legal, philosophical and ethical issues in the context of biblical teaching.

However, there was no rapprochement between them. Moreover, Luther suspected a Catholic missionary in the Belarusian pioneer printer, and also remembered the prophecy that he would be under a spell, and left the city.

In general, there are many similarities in these fates.

Martin Luther, having published the Protestant "Bible" in German, actually canonized him. The same can be said about the role of Francysk Skaryna in the formation of the Belarusian language. Moreover, the influence of his books on the Russian language is indisputable.

At about the same time when F. Skorin was visiting M. Luther, he visited Moscow with an educational mission. He probably offered his books and services as a publisher and translator.

However, by order of the Moscow prince, he was expelled from the city, and the books he brought were publicly burned as "heretical", since they were published in a Catholic country. There is no doubt that some of them have survived. But the influence of the Belarusian F. Skaryna on the formation of the Russian language to a greater extent occurred later - through the publication of books in Muscovy by I.

Fedorov and P. Mstislavets, who used the works of their compatriot in their work.

Soon F. Skorin, at the invitation of the last master of the Teutonic Order, the Prussian Duke Albrecht, visits Konigsberg. However, at this time in Vilna, during a fire that destroyed two-thirds of the city, Skaryna's printing house burned down.

I had to return, despite the Duke's anger. The dramatic events did not end there. During the fire, his wife died.

A year earlier, his elder brother, the heir to his father's business, had died. His creditors, Polish "bankers", filed debt claims to Francis, and he ended up in jail. True, a few weeks later he was released by a royal decree, taken under royal guardianship, legally equated with the gentry (noble) class. The monarch gave him a special privilege: "Let no one except us and our heirs have the right to bring him to court and judge, no matter how significant or insignificant the reason for his summons to court ..." (Note: again royal favor).

Publishing and educational activities did not bring F.

Skaryna dividends, rather depleted his initial capital. The patron saint, the bishop of Vilna, also dies. Francis travels to Prague, where he becomes a gardener for King Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who would later become the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. One might ask: what is this unusual transformation of a doctor and publisher into a gardener? The explanation is simple: most likely F.

Skaryna was a botanist and gardener. In those days, medical education included knowledge in the field of botany. According to some archival data, Skaryna in Prague specialized in the cultivation of citrus fruits and herbs for healing.

The correspondence of the Czech king with his secretary has survived, from which it turns out that "the Italian gardener Francis" (as F.

Skaryna) served not until the end of his days, but only until July 1539. It was then that the king honored him with a farewell audience.

Thirteen years later, Ferdinand issued a letter stating that "Dr. Frantisek Rus Skaryna from Polotsk, who once lived, our gardener, in this kingdom of Czech was a stranger, - descended into eternal rest and left behind his son Simeon Rus and certain property, papers, money and other things belonging to him. "

The king ordered all state employees to help Skaryna's son in obtaining the inheritance. The archives show that Simeon also inherited his father's art: he was a practicing doctor and gardener.

What did "Francis from the glorious place of Polotsk" do before his death, whether he returned to publishing, history is silent.

All the same Vl.

Socio-ethical views of F. Skorina

The specific social life of Belarusian townspeople in the system of the feudal system determines the emergence of new social and moral guidelines and values \u200b\u200bin their minds. In the urban environment, along with wealth, estate privileges, increasing importance is being attached to the individual merits of a person, his energy, intelligence, moral virtues.

In this regard, the prestige of professional skill, education and knowledge is growing. Some rich townspeople are beginning to act as patrons of the arts, to show some concern for national education, printing, and science. It is not surprising, therefore, that it was the urban environment that nominated one of the most prominent figures of Belarusian culture and social thought of the 16th century.

- Francis Skaryna. The appearance of such a person in the history of Belarusian culture in philosophical and social thought was possible only in a developed city. It is also quite symptomatic that Skaryna's publishing activities in Prague and Vilna were carried out with the financial assistance of wealthy Vilna Belarusian citizens.

During the XIV-XVI centuries. the Belarusian nationality is being formed. The formation of the Belarusian nationality took place on the basis of the western branch of the Old Russian nationality, which during the collapse of Kievan Rus retained many of its tribal, economic, household, linguistic and other differences.

On the basis of a whole complex of sources, modern Soviet researchers came to the conclusion that "the Belarusian nationality, like the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, originates from a single root - the Old Russian nationality, its western part. The Old Russian nationality was a common stage in the history of all three fraternal nationalities. , and this is the peculiarity of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs, in contrast to other nationalities, formed directly from the consolidation of the primary tribes. "

The formation of the Belarusian nationality was carried out mainly as part of a new state entity - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the socio-economic and political development of the Belarusian lands was of decisive importance in this process. The ethnic basis of the genesis of the Belarusians was the descendants of the Dregovichi, Dnieper-Dvinsk Krivichi and Radimichi. Together with them, a part of the former northerners, Drevlyans and Volynians became part of the Belarusian nationality. A certain Baltic substrate also took part in the ethnogenesis of the Belarusians, but it did not play a significant role.

During the period under review, the culture of the Belarusian nationality was formed, special features of the national language were formed, which was reflected in the written language, including in the works of Skaryna. At the same time, the process of the formation of the Belarusian nationality and its culture was carried out in close connection with the economic, socio-political and cultural life of the Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Polish peoples.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was not only a multinational, but also a multi-religious state.

The bulk of the population, Belarusians and Ukrainians, were Orthodox. The Lithuanians, at least until 1386, were pagans. After the Union of Kreva, the Catholicization of Lithuania begins. Catholicism, which is patronized by the grand ducal power, penetrates into the Belarusian-Ukrainian lands and gradually wins there one position after another, from the very beginning acting as a means of strengthening the power of feudal lords over Belarusian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian peasants and townspeople, means of realizing the socio-political aspirations of Polish magnates and the expansionist designs of the Vatican.

From the middle of the 16th century, in connection with the reformation movement, Protestantism in the form of Calvinism, partly Lutheranism and anti-Trinitarianism, was established in Belarus and Ukraine. His influence on the Belarusian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian feudal lords, townspeople, and a small number of peasants temporarily increased.

However, at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, frightened by the growing anti-feudal and national-religious movement, the radicalism of the Reformation, the majority of the feudal lords broke with Protestantism and converted to Catholicism. It should be noted here that due to the prevailing historical circumstances, some of the Belarusian and Ukrainian townspeople and peasants also belonged to the Catholic faith.

In addition to Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism that existed in Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine at the end of the 16th century. Uniatism is introduced. And finally, Jews and Tatars living within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania professed Judaism and Islam, respectively.

At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, as evidenced by the sources and available literature on this issue, Western Orthodoxy was in a state close to a crisis.

The Orthodox clergy (especially its upper strata) directed all their energy towards expanding their land holdings and increasing privileges. It cared little not only about education, culture, but also about religion itself.

Sources of the late 15th - early 16th centuries testify to the "great rudeness and lack of courage" of Orthodox priests.

Skaryna began his activity at a time when the contradictions between Orthodoxy and Catholicism and the social forces behind these two religions had not yet become sufficiently aggravated.

Meanwhile, from the second half of the sixteenth century. the process of feudal-Catholic reaction is intensifying. The activity of the Catholic Church and its avant-garde order of the Jesuits, led and directed by the Vatican, is intensifying.

During the second half of the XVI-XVII centuries. The Catholic Church in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the support of kings and feudal lords, not only became a major land owner, but also made quite successful attempts to take all the means of ideological influence into their own hands, acquire a monopoly on education, concentrate printing houses in their hands, establish strict censorship of the press, etc. .d.

Closely connected with his class environment, its ideological aspirations, Skorina is not an accidental figure in the history of culture, social and philosophical thought of the East Slavic peoples, he acts as an ideologist of progressive strata of society, who managed to look into the historical perspective, outline some significant moments of the subsequent development of society.

It was Skaryna who was the first to draw the educational program of the "seven liberal sciences" for national education, which was then adopted by fraternal schools, developed and improved by professors of the Kiev-Mohyla and Slavic-Greek-Latin academies and played a significant role in the development of the East Slavic education system, philosophical thought , the convergence of domestic culture with the culture of the West.

Skaryna stood at the origins of spiritual secularism and Europeanization.

The publisher of the famous "Russian Bible", an educator-scribe. For Skaryna, the Bible is a collection of divinely revealed knowledge and a source of the “seven liberated sciences” - grammar, logic, rhetoric, music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Job and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, rhetoric - the Proverbs of Solomon, etc.

Skaryna's sociological and philosophical views are contained in the prefaces and afterwords, which he placed in all the biblical books he translated.

Prefaces and Tales of F.

Skaryns to the books of the Holy Scriptures are of great interest and have no analogues (a general preface-interpretation to all biblical books appeared in the Elisabeth Bible in 1751).

In the preface to the book. Job, Job in Skaryna appears as a grain of sand not lost among the universal myriads, as in the cosmogony of J.

Bruno, but is in direct dialogue with the Creator, who promised him salvation and adoption.

Skorin's exegesis, inheriting the best early Christian traditions, usually reveals in the text not an external eventual, literal, but a deeply prototypical, symbolic meaning.

The genre of prefaces, their rich connecting palette, their structural and syncretic diversity can be truly understood only on the basis of pedagogical, philosophical and exegetical ideas.

Skaryna, finally, from the importance he attached to each of the books of Holy Scripture in the matter of spiritual enlightenment and correction of the customs of the "people of the rich".

Starting to translate into the "folk language" and replicate the books of Holy Scripture by means of a printing press, the Belarusian enlightener foresaw a new stage of acquaintance with the Bible - not from the preaching of experienced theologians, but from independent reading, fraught with the danger of a simplified understanding of the books of Holy Scripture.

According to the Belarusian theologian, in order to prevent a simplified interpretation, the translation and publication of the biblical text had to be accompanied by an appropriate commentary and analytical apparatus. And, in essence, we see that Skaryna's prefaces from a service genre is growing into a syncretic genre, where, along with informational information of a theological, historical, lexicographic nature, an important place is occupied by the interpretation of the prototype-allegorical content of biblical books.

Afterwords, as the final element in Skaryna's system, also fulfill a rich informative role.

In them, despite the lapidary form, the interpretation of the biblical content, which began in the preface, often continues.

Laconic afterwords conclude each of the Prague Old Testament editions. The set of information contained here is approximately the same: the title of the book, the name of the translator and publisher, place and time of publication. According to the scheme of the afterword, they could repeat each other, because only the names of the books and the time of publication changed in them. Skaryna, however, tries to avoid dull repetition, all his epilogues are different.

Frantsysk Skaryna (~ 1490, Polatsk - ~ 1551, Prague) - Belarusian and Slavic Pershadrukar, Asvetnik-Humanist, Pismennik, Hramadski Dzeyach, Pradprimalnik, Vuchony-Medyk.

Pahojanna

Daklad date naradzhennya F. Skaryna is not seen.

Supastaўlenne unіversіtetskіkh aktak (shepherd at Krakaўskі unіversіtet at 1504, at the akce of Padua unіversіteta 1512 are called "young chalaveks") yes magchymastsy palynyats 1490 yak years yablіt Dasledchykі lіchats, INTO nicknamed "Skaryna" The hell of the old man of the word "skora" (skura) or "skorina" (skarynka) was gone.

The first dakladnya zvestki pra Syam'yu Skarynaў vyadomy from the office of 15 Art. Father Frantsyska - Luk'yan Skaryna zgadvaets in the list of racist Pasolian pretenses in 1492 and Polotsk merchants. The elder brothers of Franzysk Skaryna were Ivan, Karaleўski dekret called Yago Adnachasov, Viennese meshes and executioners. Unseen and strong name of the Belarusian Pershadrukar. The old hypothesis of ab tym, INTO Skaryna imenavansya Georgy, does not wipe out the doors at the holy of the new documentary admissions.

Skaryn’s family has a large number of “Frantsysk” for 100 times, and “Frantsishek” is a brand name.

Asvetnitskaya dzeynasts

Issued by Skaryns from ’yaўlyayuzza to ‘nikal’ memory ’svetskay renaissance bibleyskay writing. The 9th month European and Belarusian cultural and historical people are distinguished by old people, traditions, their own splendid and agul cultured spirituality of the development of Belarus and Belarusians.

The times they are adorable and asabistic lynxes are an outstanding, spiritually adolescent and non-paotornistic, great and powerful.

Biblia Skaryns do not admit to nivodnamu from the vyadomny hand-crafted stars of Svyatog Pisannya.

Yana adykhodzits' hell of royal traditional not so many warehouses and places (like many kananichnaga), kolky agulnay nakiravanastyu, living spirits and svetsky chrystian spirits, gramatsyamian The creations of Skaryna unparynna and arganichna are linked from the yagos issued, temami and nakiravanastsyu yago dzhoўnay dzeinasts.

Yany ўyaўlyayuts saboy sukupnasts of ledges, imprisoned and stone materials, such as dastasavans and adpecified biblical books and setups from іmі and і і іsёy Bіblіyai times arganіcnuyu. The main role is played by "preconditions" and "blіzki" and іх on the functions of "saying". In Prague, there are 21 pradeshma and 4 words, and in the case of Vilensk, they have an addendum 2 and 21.

Tag: Francis Skaryna

Most dasledchykў adnosіts pradmovy and said and hellish genre different, on the thought of іnshykh (U. Konan, V. Darashkevich, A. Yaskevich) - said blіzhey and splendid Belarusians, kazanny. Yana is very eminent, adroznivayutsa with piles, cold-stitched, beauty, weary bagasloesky rostorikai.

The books of the Skaryns were meant for the pristine and symeinaga of reading, carving out for the royal services and for the sake of bibliatekah. Frantsysk Skaryna Alichva Adsutnasts at the ON and the Most Deceased Europe of the developed book-written traditions on the basis of the biblical stars, not very familiar from the kingdoms and navats.

Asobnya handicraft plants of Bibli ("Genadziyenskaya Bibliya" 1499, "Dzesyataglak" Matsey Dzevyataga 1502-07, "Pyatsiknіzhzha" Kab pazbegnuts asked, pamylkovaga sprynyatsya Biblіі, Skaryna іmknusya ў simple and understand the form kamentsіravats bіbleyskіya teksta, padavatsі ab іstarynіtsya, іbіvіhіakhіі.

From the tealagic kanteksse asnoўnae months ў pradmovs and words Skaryna borrowed sov. Exageza - Tlumachenne Alegarichnaga in place of the book of the Old Man. Zapavet as the great godsend and the ancestor of the New Testament podzi, the peramogi of the Chrystsianism, the light and the supervision on the everlasting spiritually vyratavanna. Complex of pradmoў and said dapaўnyayuts calathons - paslyas with some wicked out signs and sov.

nadpіsanni - scenes of accessory notes and a part of leather books.

Dasledchykі adznachayuts stylyavy i zhanravy sіnkretyzm asnoўnyh tvoraў Frantsyska Skaryna, daskanalasts vyyaўlenchyh srodkaў, publіtsystychnasts, ekspresіўnasts, prytchavy i alegarychny haraktar, bagatstse gіstarychnyh, fіlasofskіh, tealagіchnyh kamentaryyaў, suguchnasts uznoslay moўnay stylіstytsy knіg Bіblіі.

Francis Skaryna

Francysk Skorina - a scientist, educator and humanist of the Renaissance, left an indelible mark on the history of Russian culture, on 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 \u200b\u200b(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 skilled "bookmaker" - publisher, editor, typographer. And this side of his activities had a huge impact on the formation and development of Slavic book printing.

In the history of the Russian book industry, Skaryna's activities acquire 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. \u200b\u200bThis 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 on 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 blacksmith, 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, brought together in 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 16th 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 University of Krakow - 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 the "black art" was the teacher of the faculty of "liberal arts" humanist Yan from Glogov, who himself showed an interest in typography.

The student years passed quickly, and in 1506

Skaryna, after graduating from the University of Krakow, received the title of Bachelor of Liberal Arts and left Krakow.

... At the beginning of 1967, the Academy of Sciences of the Byelorussian SSR received from Italy (from the University of Padua) a parcel - 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 ... and asked the College to allow him as a gift and special favor to undergo tests in the field of 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 an opportunity to visit neighboring Venice - a 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 visited 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 taking up 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, was published. The preface to the book says: "... I am Francis Skaryna, the son of Polotsk in the medicinal sciences, the doctor commanded you to stamp the Psalms in Russian words and in Slovenian ..."

The Prague period of Skaryna's book publishing activity (1517-1519) was generally quite 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. Skorina 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 bold act - to include an illustration of secular content in the liturgical book).

The engraving is done very elegantly 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 ...

But the most essential feature of Skaryna's editions (not only Prague ones, but all subsequent ones) is the simplicity of presenting the content: the text is always translated into the spoken national language with the necessary comments and explanations.

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 \u200b\u200bpresent-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 print books was lost among them.

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,” Yanub 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 size (8th part of the sheet) and volume, it contains many generally useful tips for economic affairs, medicine, practical astronomy.

Compared to the Prague editions, the Vilna books are much richer in design. Two-color printing is used more widely in them, the fonts are distinguished by great grace. 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 tried 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 publishing 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

Francis Skaryna

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 served as 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.

F. Skorina's educational activities.

Francis Skaryna (1490 - approx. 1541), an outstanding Belarusian educator and pioneer printer, a man of broad erudition (graduated from the University of Krakow (1506) with a bachelor's degree, received a doctorate in liberal sciences, passed exams for the degree of doctor of medical sciences at the University of Poduan (1512) ...

Skaryna translated the entire Bible into the Slavic language (in the Belarusian edition) and published 23 biblical books under the general title "Bible": "Psalter" (Prague, 1517), "Small Travel Book" (Vilno, 1522), "Apostle" (Vilno, 1525).

Skaryna was characterized by a new look at Holy Scripture: he sought to bring biblical books out of a limited circle of church consumers and bring them closer to a wide range of readers, make them publicly available, popular, use them as textbooks for mastering the so-called "seven free sciences" ("Psalter" - to study grammar, "The Book of St. Job" - to study logic, "The Book of Solomon" - to study rhetoric, "The Book of Joshua" - to study geometry).

He believed that the biblical books are treasures of knowledge, they give a lot of information on other areas of knowledge that go beyond the then accepted "seven free sciences".

F. Skaryna outlined his educational views in 49 prefaces and 62 afterwords, in which he tried to give a theoretical understanding of the most important problems of upbringing and education: the role of upbringing and education in human life, the idea of \u200b\u200bharmonious development of the individual, belief in the power of the human mind, the need for versatile knowledge, development of spirituality; service to the motherland, the importance of labor in the education of the individual.

The meaning of SKORINA FRANTSISK (GEORGE) in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia

The interpretation of these problems brought him closer to the best Western European representatives of the Renaissance.

Noteworthy is the decoration of the books published by F. Skorina: the text is decorated with engravings, headpieces, illustrations.

The small format of the books, the beautiful design, the rich language made them popular and accessible; they looked better than Western European editions.

Volat of the Belarusian і syago erapeyskaga Renaissance naradzіўsya ў the merchant to the probationers of Polatsk. Adtul u 1504 yon straightened up for science ў Krakowski Universite, Philosophical faculty yakogo from the bachelor's step. Skaryna's Pazney became the doctrines of "free navuk" (philasophia), and in 1512, the Padua Universitese became the most autonomous in Tagachasnay \u200b\u200bEurope. Bliskucha vytrymaashy there exams, yon pershy syarod uskhodnih Slavic atrymaў vuchon stage of the doctrine of medytsyna (yakuyu, napena, sounded earlier in Kapenhagen) Sonnya I will reveal the steps of the signs of the suaychynnik it is possible to abachyts at the Padu va onyversitetskay memorial hall syrod partreta saraka issued dzeyachoў navuky and mastatstva, which came out from the scene of the mater alma.

F. Skaryna. Fragment of Lazar Ran's carcinoma

The replacement of the spakoinaga zhytstsya on the pasadze of the doctor is the pry dvary yakoga-nebudz of the prince of the tycoon Skaryn, the sapraўdny son of the Renaissance era abraў іnshy shlyakh Yon vyrashyk give to the people "leki duhunyya" - a hand-drawn Bibliya on enlightened mov. The first z yago book - Psalter - published the light on the 6th anniversary of 1517 near the Czech Praze. At pradmov and yae gumanist pisak: “ I, Frantsishak Skarynin, son of Polatsk, have a doctrine in medicinal sciences, pave the Psalter to God ... in advance of the chtsi and to plow God, Trinity of adzinam and great macera Mary ... and sweat the meat of the pastila from tago language to light pusce". For example, Belarusians are the first to come across Slavic and traditional Slavic peoples, and atrymali book on the native land. The glory of the executioners of the pakinuks of 23 perakladzeny and the issuance of biblical books to the old-Belarusian people and the hetym of the Sluggish Princes and the Belarusian-Litsvinos among the Peradavian peoples. Drukavanaya Belarusian Bibliya Franziska Skaryna is a part of the ў candle, given out on the living language of the people (shepherd nyametskaga, іtalyiskaga and cheshskaga peracladaў).

Prague. Engraving by G. Braun and F. Gothenberg. 1598 g.

Skarynavaya Knіga knіg left earlier for Luterava. Yana was the first Bibliyay of the Drukavian to descend from the Padnevaslavyansk people and amal to the Polish apyardzila. Skaryna betrayed her talents earlier than French and angelic ones. Yagons "Psalter" ubachyў light for 47 gadoў and "Apostal", from the yakoga shattered raseyskaya knigadrukavanne. The very same Biblia para-raseysku pershynyu was issued ў 1876.
Vyarnuўshysya on Radzіma, Skaryna Blіzu 1520 with the help of the possible Vilensk Mestsіchaў Yakub Babich, Bagdan Ankovich (Onkava) and Yur'ya Advernika, yakіya, vіdats, wadtrylіvіvіlіvіlіvі yago wіdravіy

In 1522 and 1525 there was published "Small garden book" and "Apostal". The Viennese drukarnya Franziska Skaryna was a Pershay in Uskhodnyay Europe.

Yon uvayshoў is not only a history of Belarusian and Eastern Slavic Pershadrukar, ale and a phylosaph, what a glimpse of Khrystsiyanskiy, antichny and humanistic ideas. Yak pismennik-prazaik and paet, INTO serve not to the elite or to her, but to the nation. Yak issued perakladnіk from some old age and new movings, as a redactar and issuer, INTO dasyagnu naivelіkshay harmony of words and drukarskaga master. (On the thought of a specialty, with a pile of jumping and dancing Skarynava books, perasyagayuts as the earliest Tsarist Slavic issued, so the balshins of the glorious at that hour of the Venetians.)

Pyaru Skaryns are genially simple and the prachuls themselves our histories are patriotic hymn-praises of love and Batskaashchyny: “ Panezhe hell pryradzhennya zvyary, hodzyachyya ў desert, know pile pits, ptsytsy, pile, fish, floating in the sea and wrecks, feel pile piles, bees and so deadly voluptuous ігдзідзіліся і і і, to the place there is a sluggish affection».

Vuchonya Dagetul cannot be adherent, yakoga yon would be faithful. Humanistic perceptive lightning was put on yago pa-over kanfesiyami, which turned off the indiscriminate spirits and praiseworthy, and catalysis.
The son of the people, I live in the geographic center of Eropa, Skaryna bliskucha spaluchy at the creative tradition of the visitor to the Ushod and Latsinskaga to Zakhad. Yon azdobіў pile knіgі shmatlіkіmі vysokamastatskіmі engravings, on which it is possible to sound tagachasnae life, adzenne, tekhnіku budoўlі, vaysk reference. I swept away the hell of the royal canons, and I would reveal them to Biblii lasnuyu - the Pershs ў histories of the susvetnaga master partrat of the knigavedts.

In the life of a pershadrukar adbіlasy, натsia has a natty, whirling and adventurous epoch to the passage of hell Syarednyavechcha and Novaga hour.

Museum named after F. Skaryna in Londane, dze zakhovaetsza kalya 50 thousand knig, at the tym liku redkia of belarusian staradruk

On the thought of some historykas, yon neykі hour pratsavaў by the sacratar of the datskaga karalya Hans. Skaryna is haunted by the refarmatars Luthers and the medics and the alchemists Paracels. Bra udzel at the folded agulnadzyarzhaўnaga to collect the law - the first step of the Statute of the Vyalikag of the Principality of Litўskaga 1529 by the sacratar and prydvorny healers at the Vilensk biskup Jan. Skaryn asks for the service of the master of the Teutonskag of the Order, Albrekht Brandenburg, as a nobleman.

Kali for the brothers, yes, the creedyrs kicked Skaryn at the vyaznits, Iago summoned the languid prince Zhygimont Stary himself. On the sign of recognition of the asable merits of the perad Aichynay, the manarch issued the admyslovs of the executioners to the executioner.

Vedayuchi, INTO Maskoўshchyna not in May with their friends, Frantsishak Skaryna drove at my steel party with their books and prapanavaў issued a certificate. Ale і svetskiya, і spiritually іladary pastavіlіsya and getaga varrozha. Maskous prince Vasil III wondered about the Skarynav books of vognishcha. The Іkh publichnae palenne has become a hellish city of great retail in the cultural regions of Vyalikaga of the Principality of Lithuania and Maskovii.

Zyamny shlyakh vydatnaga humanist zyyarshysya ў Praze, dze da yago nekali passed the European glory. At the old part of the Chessian steel, in Hradchany there is a memorial of our suaychynnіka shanavanaya memorials.

Skarynavia issued to small shyrok chytatsky adytoria not only natay dzyarzhave. The Іх vedals ў Poland, Chekhіі, Nyamechchyne. Tsyaper pershadrukі slavutaga executioner zakhoўvayuzza is the most important in biblіatekakh Race and Ukraine, and taxam in knigazborach Krakava, Warsaw, London, Cambridge, Kapenhagen, Ljubljana, Prague. Unseen before asobnіk Skarynavay Bіblіі znoydzeny nyadaўna ў Nyamechchyne.

© “U. Arlok “Kraina Belarus. Sluggish of the Principality of Lithuania ”, 2012

Francis Lukich Skaryna is an East Slavic first printer, writer, philosopher-humanist, medical scientist, public figure and entrepreneur. He is known for having translated the books of the Bible from Church Slavonic into Belarusian. The first printer was born around 1490 in the city of Polotsk, which at that time was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In Belarus, he is considered one of the most significant figures in the history of the state. Educational institutions, organizations, as well as honorary awards of the state: a medal and an order are named in his honor. The contribution to the culture of Belarus is immortalized by monuments, one of them is installed on the square near the National Library in Minsk.

Life and biography of Francysk Skaryna

Francysk Skaryna (approx. In Belarusian) was born at the end of the 15th century in the family of a merchant named Luka and his wife Margarita. The researchers did not come to a general conclusion regarding the date of his birth, so you can find different information about this. In addition, some scholars argue that Francis had a middle name - George. They came to this conclusion by studying the surviving documents of the Grand Duke Sigismund I in Latin. Also controversial is caused by other interesting facts from the life of the first printer.

The scientist received his primary education in his hometown. He learned Latin at the school of Bernardine monks. Historians suggest that in 1504 Francis entered the Krakow Academy, which is currently the Jagiellonian University. He graduated from the freelance arts department with a bachelor's degree. Years later, the renowned pioneer printer was awarded the title of Licentiate of Medicine and Doctorate of Free Arts. Over the next five years, the writer studied at the Faculty of Medicine, after which he passed exams at the University of Padua in Italy, despite the fact that he did not study here. This is also evidenced by the relevant documents. In 1512, the scientist was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine, since he passed all the exams without difficulty.

In 1517 Skaryna founded a printing house in Prague. In it he published the Psalter in Cyrillic script, which became the first printed book in the Belarusian language. In total, he translated and published 23 religious books over the next two years. In 1520, the scientist moved to Vilna, which at that time was the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Here he founded a printing house, which became the first in the country. In the next few years, the writer published "Small travel book" and "Apostle".

Francis marries Margarita, who was the widow of the sponsor of his printing house, Yuri Odvernik. She died four years later, leaving behind a small child. The elder brother of the activist also passed away this year. His creditors began to file property claims against the scientist. In 1532 he was arrested for the debts of his deceased brother, after the creditors turned to Sigismund I, but in the same year the Poznan court ruled in favor of the defendant.

In 1535, the scientist lived in Prague, where, according to historians, he worked as a doctor or gardener, as evidenced by documents from the royal court. It was not possible to establish the exact date of death, but presumably Francis Skaryna died around 1551.

Francysk Skaryna's book heritage: the first Bible

The first printer published his books in a language that was based on Church Slavonic, but has many Belarusian words. He was understandable to the compatriots of the writer. Over the years, linguists have debated what language the books were translated into. Today they claim that the translation language is the Belarusian version of the Church Slavonic language.

The key feature of the first printer's books was that they followed the rules for writing church books, which were rarely followed in full. They have retained texts from a picture book publisher. the presented case was the only one in the history of Bible publishing in Eastern Europe. It is also worth noting that the fonts and engraved headpieces that were introduced to the scientist's typography were used by book publishers for the next hundred years.

You can find out even more interesting things about the culture, history and life of Belarus as an independent state, and just have a good rest by renting it on our tourist portal.

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

For the third year in a row, Belarusian television has been broadcasting 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 Euphrosinya Polotskaya, 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 Francisk 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”. Francysk 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 in the territory that was part of the USSR. In the same place in Vilna, in 1525, Francis Skaryna published The Apostle. Fedorov'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.

By no means 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 Skorina, 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 European universities. 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 reason 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 began 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." 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.

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 put in a Poznan prison. The Polish king Sigismund I releases him from court by a special letter.

In 1534, Francis Skaryna made 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 activities in the field of biblical texts were 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 the 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 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 Vilnius printing house were used by book publishers for another hundred years.

What Francisk Skaryna actually did in Prague in the last years of his life is not known exactly. 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, of the two options, he translated Skorin's books 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 (version) of the Church Slavonic language. At the same time, the influence of the Czech and Polish languages \u200b\u200bis 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. Due to the ban on self-translation of the Bible, Catholic and orthodox Church 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 bears the name of F. Skorina. Monuments to the outstanding scientist were installed 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).