Gáspár Heltai

The native form of this personal name is Heltai Gáspár. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Gáspár Heltai
Born
Caspar Helth

c. 1510[1]
Nagydisznód, Kingdom of Hungary (now Cisnădie, Romania)
Diedc. 1574
Kolozsvár, Principality of Transylvania (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Occupation(s)Writer, printer
EraReformation
SchoolLutheran
Unitarianism
Book cover of Chronica az magyaroknak dolgairól

Gáspár Heltai (c. 1510–1574) was a Protestant writer and printer from Transylvania who produced many books in Hungarian. He was also the father of the sister-in-law of Ferenc Dávid.

Career

Heltai was born Caspar Helth to a Transylvanian Saxon and Lutheran family.[2] His surname may derive from the German name of his birthplace, Heltau (now Cisnădie, Romania).[citation needed] In 1543, he studied at Wittenberg University (now Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) under Philip Melanchthon. Returning to Transylvania the next year, he became a clergyman in the Calvinist and then Lutheran denominations. In 1569, he converted to Unitarianism and defended it in a debate with representatives of the Reformed (i.e. Calvinist) Church in Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia, Romania).[3]

From 1550 he worked as a printer in partnership with György Hoffgreff in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania). The press functioned under Heltai's name after 1552, and continued to work after his death thanks to his widow.[3]

Heltai founded a public bath, a paper mill and the first brewery in the town. He is considered the first religious reformer in Kolozsvár,[4] and a great spirit of Hungarian Unitarian[5] Reformation.[6] Together with a group of scholars Heltai produced an almost complete translation[2] of the New Testament into Hungarian.[7] His work marked the first buds of a secular literature in Hungary.[8]

Bonfini translation

Heltai's most voluminous work is his reworking and translation of Antonio Bonfini's Rerum Hungaricum Decades ("Ten Volumes of Hungarian Matters"), which Heltai published in 1575 as Chronica az magyaroknak dolgairól ("Chronicle of the Hungarians’ Past Deeds").[9] The work was printed in Kolozsvár.[9]

References

  1. ^ Tezla, Albert (1970). Hungarian authors; a bibliographical handbook. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 203. ISBN 0674426509.
  2. ^ a b Greenslade, S. L. (1975). "The Bible in East-Central Europe". The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 3, the West from the Reformation to the present day. Cambridge University Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-521-29016-3. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  3. ^ a b Tezla, Albert (1970). Hungarian authors; a bibliographical handbook. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 204. ISBN 0674426509.
  4. ^ Georg Daniel Teutsch, Helth, Kaspar,Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 11. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, pag. 711–713.
  5. ^ Kelemen, Miklós (2000). "Short History of the Unitarian Church". Unitarian Church of Hungary. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  6. ^ "Introduction by the Rector". Károli Gáspár University of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  7. ^ "The forerunners of the Hungarian Bible translation". Hungarian Bible Society. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  8. ^ Molnár, Miklós; Anna Magyar (2001). "A Country Under Three Crowns, 1526-1711". A Concise History of Hungary. Cambridge University Press. pp. 111. ISBN 0-521-66736-4. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  9. ^ a b "Antonio Bonfini". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-05.

Relevant literature

  • Forgács-Drahota, Erzsébet (2000) Sprichwörter in den Werken von Gáspár Heltai. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 45 (3-4). pp. 337–357. ISSN 1216-9803


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