A Polish translation of Martin Luther's postil by "Hieronim Malecki, parson of Lyck (now Ełk)".

Hieronim Malecki (also Hieronymus Maeletius or Meletius) (1527, most likely in Kraków – 1583 or 1584 in Lyck, Ducal Prussia (now Ełk) was a Polish, Prussian Lutheran pastor and theologian, as well as a translator, publisher, writer[1] and creator of literary Polish.

Hieronim Malecki was the son of Johannes Maletius (Jan Malecki) (sometimes referred to as "Jan Sandecki" or "Jan Sandecki-Malecki"), who was a printer of Polish language Lutheran religious literature in Königsberg in Ducal Prussia, then a fief of Kingdom of Poland. Hieronim studied in Kraków at the Jagiellonian University and then at the University of Königsberg.[1]

He worked as a teacher at a Polish school in Lyck and as a translator for the starosta of Lyck. In 1563 he was hired as the resident translator of Polish in the printing house of Hans Daubmann in Königsberg Królewiec.[1] Malecki's translations include Martin Luther's "House Postil" (Postylla domowa, to yest: Kazania na Ewangelie niedzielne y przednieysze święta, 1574, Królewiec), as well as Luther's Small Catechism (Catechismus maly: dla pospolitych plebanow y kaźnodzieiow, 1615, Królewiec)[2] He also published works by his father, Jan, including Libellus de sacrificiis et idolatria Borussorum, Livonum... ("Treatise on the sacrifices and idolatry in Prussia and Livonia", 1563, Królewiec), originally a letter to the rector of University of Königsberg, Georg Sabinus, which Hieronim also published in a German-language version.[3]

In his translations into Polish, Hieronim, following his father, relied heavily on Czech, and even argued that Czech and Polish were a single language.[4] This practice had origins in an argument between Hieronim's father and another Polish translator in Królewiec, Jan Seklucjan.[5]

According to some historians,[6] Malecki may have been the author or co-author of the Sudovian Book.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hieronim Malecki". Slownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku. Instytut Badan Literackich Polskiej Akademi Nauk. Archived from the original on 2012-12-28.
  2. ^ Luther, Martin (1615). Catechismus maly: dla pospolitych plebanow y kaźnodzieiow. Krolewiec: Hans Daubmann.
  3. ^ Sembrzycki, J. (1890). "Die Lycker Erzpriester Johannes und Hieronymus Maletius". Ateneum. 2: 176–178.
  4. ^ Jakobson, Robert (1985). Selected Writings: Early Slavic Paths and Crossroads, Volume 6. Walter de Gruyter. p. 51. ISBN 3110106051.
  5. ^ Frick, David (1989). Polish Sacred Philology in the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation: Chapters in the History of the Controversies (1551-1632). University of California Press. p. 13. ISBN 0520097408.
  6. ^ Kregždys, Rolandas (2009). "Sūduvių knygelė – vakarų baltų religijos ir kultūros šaltinis. I dalis: formalioji analizė" (PDF). Lituanistica (in Lithuanian). 3–4 (79–80): 179–187. ISSN 0235-716X.
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