Coresi (also known as Deacon Coresi; d. 1583,

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

) was one of the first

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

printers of the sixteenth century. He was the editor of some of the earliest printed books in the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

Biography

Very little is known about his life, including the year of his birth and the date of his death. He was most likely from

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște'') is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River. Târgoviște was ...

and practiced printing in the same city under the guidance of Moise the Monk and

Dimitrije Ljubavić Dimitrije Ljubavić ( - Venice, January 1519 – Brașov, 1564) was a Serbian Orthodox deacon, humanist, writer and printer who together with German reformer Philip Melanchthon initiated the first formal contact between the Eastern Orthodox Church ...

who were working for the

Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia The Metropolis of Wallachia and Dobruja, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, is a metropolis of the Romanian Orthodox Church. History The Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia was established in 1359 by Callistus I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constant ...

. He moved to

in 1559, where he started printing books not only in

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...

, but also in Romanian. The epithet deacon was interpreted as meaning "minor writer of Slavonic language in a chancery", yet it is more likely he was an actual

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

During his activity he printed approximately 35 book titles. His activity was not limited to a single religious group, his works having Calvinist, Lutheran, or Orthodox patronage.

List of books printed by Coresi

Coresi printed 10 books in Romanian: *''Întrebare creștinească'' ("''Christian Question"'') 560*''Catehismul'' ("''Catechism"'') 560*''Tetraevanghel'' ("''Tetraevangelion"'')

561 __NOTOC__ Year 561 ( DLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 561 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

*''Pravila Sfinților Apostoli'' or ''a Sfinților Părinți'' ("''Pravila or the Nomocanon of the Holy Apostles or of the Holy Fathers"'') 560-1562*''Lucrul apostolesc'' ("''The Apostolic Work"'')

566 566 ( DLXVI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 566 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. ...

*''Tâlcul Evangheliilor'' ("''The Interpretation of the Gospels"'') 567-1568*''Molitevnic rumânesc'' ("''Romanian Euchologion"'') 567-1568*''Psaltire'' ("''Psalter"'') 568, 1570*''Liturghierul'' ("Hieratikon")

570 __NOTOC__ Year 570 ( DLXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 570 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

*''Evanghelia învățătoare ("''The Teaching or Didactic Gospel"'')

581 __NOTOC__ Year 581 ( DLXXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 581 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Euro ...

' *''Evanghelia cu învățătură ''("''The Gospel with teaching"'')

*''Cazania II'' ("''Kazania'' or ''Homiliary II"'')

References

Petre P. Panaitescu Petre P. Panaitescu (March 11, 1900 – November 14, 1967) was a Romanian literary historian. A native of Iași, he spent most of his adult life in the national capital Bucharest, where he rose to become a professor at its main university. As ...

, ''Începuturile și biruința scrisului în limba română'', Bucharest,

Editura Academiei The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's mai ...

, 1965, pp. 133–163. * * * ''Istoria limbii române literare. Epoca veche (1532–1780)'' (coordonator Ion Gheție), Bucharest, Editura Academiei Române, 1997. * Ion Gheție, Al. Mareș, ''De când se scrie românește?'', Bucharest, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2001. {{Authority control 1583 deaths Year of birth unknown Romanian printers Romanian typographers and type designers Romanian people in the Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711) 16th-century people from the Principality of Wallachia

Biography

List of books printed by Coresi

See also

References