Post by uz on Aug 19, 2012 17:15:22 GMT -5
Zaharije Orfelin
(Born in Vukovar, 1726 – Novi Sad, 1785)
A Serb polymath who lived and worked in the Austrian Monarchy and Venice. Described as a Renaissance man, he was an educator, administrator, poet, engraver, lexicographer, herbalist, historian, winemaker, translator, editor, publisher, polemicist, polyglot and traveler.
In 1757 Orfelin became the secretary to Metropolitan Pavle Nenadoviæ in Sremski Karlovci, the Serbian political and spiritual centre at the time. Metropolitan Pavle wanted to establish Karlovci as an independent educational centre and evade Imperial Austrian control over censorship. In collaboration with Zaharije Orfelin, he founded the "Copper Publishing House", where the first modern Orthodox literary works and a considerable number of prints were made. Soon Orfelin began publishing poems, translating books, and creating etchings and engravings, inspired by the work of his contemporaries. To fulfill his ambition to print more books, he moved to Venice where he founded and edited the first Serbian review, Slaveno-Serbski Magazin (1768). Poem Plaè Serbii [The Lament of Serbia] and biography of Peter I of Russia Istorija o žitija i slavnih djelah velikago gosudarja i imperatora Petra Pervago are considered his most notable works. His Slaveno-Serbski Magazin paved the way to Slavoserbian language. He was the first to publish in the 18th century texts pertaining to Serbian social and cultural history when other European nations had yet to entertain the subjects. During this period Orfelin first began to write The Big Serbian Herbalium, in which he detailed the sanative effects of 500 species of herbs. And, in the Experienced Winemaker he listed several hundreds of recipes for preparation of herbal wines and other potions. Orfelin was fluent in Russian, Latin, German, and French.
The Lament of Serbia is regarded as the most notable among his poetic works of that period. He first published it anonymously in Venice in 1761. In this ode he fiercely pilloried the establishment of the Austrian Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, while also emphasizing the difficult position and unjust treatment of the Serbs under the Imperial protection. Even though the poem bore no signature, the authorship was soon discovered. It is believed that this was a reason for his hurried exit from Karlovci the following year.
In 1764, Orfelin came to Dimitrios Theodosios's publishing house in Venice, where he spent the next six years before moving back to Karlovci. Theodosios, who began to print Serbian books in Venice in 1758, needed Orfelin to edit and proofread the abundant material being brought to him. Theodosios remained the only outlet for Serbian literature and printed books in Russo-Slavonic until the emergence of Kurtbek's publishing house in Vienna in 1770. Orfelin's editorial work gave a special impetus to the success of this Slavic publishing house. In a span of a few years many important books -- "Catechisis" by Peter Mohyla and another "Catechisis" by Jovan Rajic, "Srbljak" (a compedium of old Serbian writings) and "Short Stories" by Feofan Prokopovich -- were published there. Many of the books published were either translated or edited by Orfelin himself. He also published his own, original works, including "A Melody for the Spring" and "A Historical Poem" in 1765, "Latin Alphabet" in 1767, and "Latin Grammar" and "Slavic Alphabet" in 1768. A large number of the books printed in Theodosios's shop in Venice were purposefully mislabelled as printed in either Moscow or Sankt Petersburg publishing houses. The reasoning behind it was that Serbs under the Austrian rule had more faith in books published in Russia than in the West. While still in Venice, Orfelin also printed one of the most important copper engravings, St. George with the Image of the Monastery of Sendjuradj (1767), and the first one that he signed as a member of the Imperial Engraving Academy founded by Austrian Jacob Schmutzer.
Orfelin was one of the most notable representatives of the Serbian Baroque literature (although he worked in the first half of the 18th century, as Baroque trends in Serbian literature emerged in the late 17th century); yet his writings bear certain ideas of European Enlightenment and Rationalism. Through the whole of the 18th century, Serbian literature was mostly under the sway of Russia, or rather of the Russian Orthodox Church. As the Russo-Slavonic language was not readily understood by the Serbian reading public, its form used by the Serbs came under the influence of their living dialect and began soon to approach nearer to Serbian than to Russian. This artificial literary jargon was called Slaveno-Serbski, Slavo-Serbian. (In the 19th century it was eventually superseded by the modern Serbian language owing to the efforts and reforms of Vuk Karadžiæ).
In 1776 Orfelin's name appears in a lexicon of Austrian artists, Des Gelehte Osterisch by de Luca, where he is listed as both an engraver and a writer, elected as an academician in the newly-established Academy of Engraving in Vienna.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaharije_Orfelin
www.antikvarne-knjige.com/zaharije-orfelin
Some collections of his work:
eng.digital.nb.rs/collection/zaharije-orfelin
www.encyclo.co.uk/define/Zaharije%20Orfelin
Jovan Rajiæ
(September 21, 1726 – December 22, 1801)
A Serbian writer, historian, traveller, and pedagogue, considered one of the greatest Serbian academics of the 18th century. He was one of the most notable representatives of Serbian Baroque literature along with Zaharije Orfelin, Pavle Julinac, Vasilije III Petroviæ-Njegoš, Simeon Konèareviæ, Simeon Pišèeviæ, and others (although he worked in the first half of 18th century, as Baroque trends in Serbian literature emerged in the late 17th century).
Rajiæ was born on September 21, 1726 in Sremski Karlovci. He attended Novi Sad's Petrovaradinska roždestveno-bogorodièina škola latinosko-slovenska, the Latino-Slavonic Spiritual Academy for young theologians, founded by Russian-born Emanuel Kozaèinski in 1731. In 1744 he moved to Komárom where he attended a Jesuit gymnasium for four years. Fearing to be converted, he became a student of Protestant lycée in Sopron in 1748. He graduated in 1752 and he was ostensibly headed for the church. But his tastes lead him in a different direction for the time being; not content with a knowledge of books only, he wished to know the world and people better. During a period of almost ten years he seized every opportunity for profitable travel whenever he could. He travelled on foot from Hungary to Russian Empire – a distance of 800 miles -— where he enrolled as a student of the prestigious Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He remained in Kiev until 1756 studying theology. He immediately formed a friendship with his professors, many of whom were desciples of Feofan Prokopovich, the great reformer of the Russian Orthodox Church and one of the founders of the Russian Academy of Sciences. After graduating from the Kiev academy he travelled to Moscow and Smolensk. For the next few months he led an unsettled life, attracting attention everywhere by his talents and boldness of his teaching. On his way home he also visited Poland and various parts of Hungary. In 1757 he returned to his native Sremski Karlovci and sought a teaching position at a seminary called Pokrovo-Bogorodièina škola, which was denied. Dejected and hurt, he decided to go back to Imperial Russia. He arrived in 1757 back in Kiev where he stayed only for a short time. That same year he travelled to Poland, Wallachia, Moldavia before taking a ship across the Black Sea to Constantinople, and from there to Mount Athos, where he spent a few months at the Serbian Monastery of Hilendar, doing research in the library. It wasn't until late 1759 that he became a professor of geography and rhetoric in Pokrovo-Bogorodièina škola in Sremski Karlovci. Entering a conflict with high representatives of Serbian Orthodox Church in Sremski Karlovci, he moved to Temesvar. Life at the episcopal residence was luxurious. Though Rajiæ resisted the evils attendant on such luxury -- loose morals, drunkenness, intrigue -- he did acquire a vice which was to embiter the rest of his days, avarice. But more important, he found time in Temesvar to work on his History. After a turbulent year and a half, Rajiæ left for Novi Sad at the invitation of the Serbian Bishop of Baèka, Mojsije Putnik. He was inaugurated rector of the institution of higher learning, Duhovna kolegija, by Metropolitan Pavle Nenadoviæ of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci in 1767. There he stayed for more than four years as both rector and professor of theology. His lectures, in which he endeavoured to show that Orthodox theology is in complete harmony with reason, were received with eager interest by the younger generation of thinkers. In 1772 he went to Kovilj monastery where, at the age of 46, Rajiæ became a monk and soon after he was elevated to the monastic rank of archimandrite, and made abbot of the same monastery. He spent the rest of his life in the monastery writing books, mostly with religious and theological themes. He died in the Sebian Kovilj monastery on December 22, 1801.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovan_Raji%C4%87
Jovan Rajiæ - Kratkaja Serblji, Rasi, Bosni i Rami kralevstv istorija
www.scribd.com/doc/32612793/Jovan-Raji%C4%87-Kratkaja-Serblji-Rasi-Bosni-i-Rami-kralevstv-istorija
Andrija Zmajevic
(late July 1628 - 7 September 1694)
Andrija Zmajevic was a distinguished Serbian Baroque poet and contributor to the Roman Catholic Church from the Bay of Kotor. He was also a prominent theologian and the Archbishop of Bar and "Primate of the Serbian Kingdom".
The illustrious Zmajeviæ family originates from the Njeguš Old Montenegrin clan: when the last members of the Crnojeviæ dynasty left Montenegro, Nikola Zmajeviæ and his cousins Ivaniš and Vuèeta moved to Kotor. Becoming appealed and somewhat wealthy, the family quickly abandoned Serbian Orthodoxy in favor of Roman Catholicism,[1] with the three marrying Catholic Christian girls and having their children baptized in the Latin Rite. Andrija's father was Nikola Milutin Zmajeviæ. After Andrija's birth in 1628, soon came Andrija's brothers, Ivan and Krsto. Krsto would become a very famous person, on more than one occasion the Captain of Perast. Andrija remained very akin towards his family origin throughout his life.
On 15 April 1654 the Ottoman Turks from Herzegovina under the leadership of Mehmed-pasa Rizvanbegoviæ assaulted Andrija's hometown Perast; his brother Krsto heroically defended the city. Andrija wrote a poem Boj peraški (Battle of Perast) dedicated to celebrating this event. Some half a century ago the last remaining copy of this work was lost.
He returned to his home and became the abbot of the local monastery of St. George and the pastor of Perast (1656). In 1664 he became the vicar of Budva bishopric and in 1671 the titular archbishop of Bar and primate of the Kingdom of Serbia. As both Bar and the rest of Montenegro were under Ottoman control, Zmajeviæ resided in Perast where he built a grand palace called Biskupija ("Bishop's palace"). The palace was frescoed by his protégé, the talented local painter Tripo Kokolja. Biskupija also contained one of the most significant libraries in the eastern Adriatic. He also supervised the building of the high bell tower of the parish church and of many other churches round the Bay of Kotor (Boka kotorska). Zmajeviæ was interested as well in classical antiquities and collected Roman inscriptions and ruins. Although a high Catholic prelate Zmajeviæ remained very tolerant and highly esteemed by both the Catholics and the Orthodox, among the latter by Arsenije Èarnojeviæ, the Serbian patriarch, also of the Njeguš clan.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrija_Zmajevi%C4%87
more info:
www.bokabay.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128%3Apalata-zmajevi&catid=6%3Aperast&Itemid=70&lang=en
Gavrilo Stefanovic Venclovic
(1670–1749)
A Serbian priest, writer, poet, orator, philosopher, and illuminator. He was one of the first and most notable representatives of Serbian Baroque literature (although he worked in the first half of 18th century, as Baroque trends in Serbian literature emerged in the late 17th century). But Vencloviæ's most unforgettable service to his nation was his initial contribution as a scholar to the development of the vernacular -- what was to become, a century later, the Serbian literary language.
Venclovic was born in Srem province, then part of the Hungarian kingdom, now Serbia.
His character is difficult to evaluate, for he possessed the usual Serbian Orthodox virtues in modest form. He seldom spoke about himself, if one was to guess, such was the norm in those days. He was Kiprian Raèanin's best and the most prolific student in the Raèa School. Vencloviæ was a mystic and a man of excellent ability who spoke several Slavic dialects and languages, including Russian and Polish, and translated from the two languages with ease. He showed signs of the spirit of reform, asserting that the gospels should be translated from Old Church Slavonic into the vernacular (then known as Serbian Slavonic) so that the common people might understand. A century later Ðuro Danièiæ and Vuk Karadžiæ translated the old Serbian Bible of Vencleviċ into the new reformed language as we know it today.
Gavrilo Stefanoviæ Vencloviæ's opus is interesting and multifarious. Orations, biographies, church songs, poems, illuminations and illustrations of church books, histories of European peoples and kings, etc. He was familiar with the works of contemporary Russian and Polish theologians of his day. From Russian he translated archbishop Lazar Baranovych's Mech dukhovny (The Spiritual Sword), and from Polish he translated Istorija Barona Cezara, kardinala rimskago. The sway of Old Church Slavonic as the medieval literary language of all the Eastern Orthodox Slavs lasted many centuries. In Russia it obtained until the time of Peter the Great (1672–1725), and among the Serbs until the time of Gavrilo Stefanoviæ Vencloviæ. He translated the bible from Old Slavonic to Old Serbian. Thus the Old Slavonic was relegated only to liturgical purposes. From then on, theology and church oratory and administration were carried on in Slavoserbian, a mixture of Old Slavic (Old Church Slavonic) in its Russian form with a popular Serbian rendering, until Vuk Karadžiæ came along. He was the first reformer to shake off the remnants of this ancient speech and to institute a phonetic orthography.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavril_Stefanovi%C4%87_Venclovi%C4%87
pravoslavlje.spc.rs/broj/1002/tekst/gavrilo-stefanovic-venclovic/print/lat