Konstantinas Sirvydas

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Konstantinas Sirvydas, (Latin: Constantinus Szyrwid, Polish: Konstanty Szyrwid) died 1631) was a Lithuanian^[1] religious preacher, lexicographer and one of the pioneers of Lithuanian literature^[2]. He was a Jesuit priest and a professor at the Academy of Wilno and he authored, among other works, the first grammar of the Lithuanian language and the first tri-lingual dictionary in Lithuanian, Latin and Polish (1619).

He was born some time between 1578 and 1581, in the village of Širvydai near Anykščiai. In 1612, he became a professor of theology at the Academy of Wilno, the predecessor of Vilnius University. Between 1623 and 1624, he also briefly served as the deputy rector of his alma mater, after which he continued as a professor in theology, liberal arts and philosophy.

At the same time, he began his career as a preacher, writer and scientist. In 1619, he published his tri-lingual Polish-Lithuanian-Latin dictionary Dictionarium trium linguarum in usum studiosae juventutis, one of the first such books in Lithuanian literary history. It has been printed in at least five editions since that time. Until the 19th century, it was the only Lithuanian dictionary in print. Sirvydas' lexicon is often mentioned as a milestone in the standarization and codification of the Lithuanian language. The first edition contained approximately 6000 words, the second was expanded to include almost 11,000 words. It also had a lot of newly created Lithuanian words - for example "mokytojas" (teacher), "taisyklė"- (rule). A decade later, in 1629, he published the first volume of a collection of his sermons entitled Punktai Sakymų, and he later translated them into the Polish language as Punkty kazań. The Lithuanian version of this work was often used as a primer to teach the Lithuanian language. However, it was not until 1644, that the second volume was finally published. Around 1630, he compiled the first book of grammar of the Lithuanian language (Lietuvių kalbos raktas), which however did not survive to our times. He died on August 8, 1631 in Vilnius.

[edit] Notes and references

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^ Note that in 16th and 17th century the idea of national identity did not yet exist in its modern sense and Sirvydas is sometimes also referred to as a Pole; as in: (English) Małgorzata Kowalewska. "Academy of Vilnius" (pdf). Catholic University of Lublin. Retrieved on 2006-06-28.
^ (Polish) Tomas Venclova (2001). Eseje (Essays). Sejny: Pogranicze, 336 (2). ISBN 83-86872-25-X.