Dmitry Gerasimov (; also known as ''Demetrius Erasmius'', ''Mitya the Translator'' and ''Dmitri the Scholastic''; c. 1465 – after 1535) was a Russian translator, diplomat and philologist; he also provided some of the earliest information on

Muscovy Muscovy or Moscovia () is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 *Muscovy duck (''Cairina mosch ...

to Renaissance scholars such as

Paolo Giovio Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate. Early life Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Co ...

and

Sigismund von Herberstein Siegmund (Sigismund) Freiherr von Herberstein (or Baron Sigismund von Herberstein; 23 August 1486 – 28 March 1566) was a Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council. He was most noted for his exten ...

Career

Gerasimov presumably lived in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

for most of his life and worked mainly with Novgorodian clerics. In his youth he studied in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

, where he learnt Latin and German. These languages he put to extensive use in his translations of religious texts (including

Hieronymus Hieronymus, in English pronounced or , is the Latin form of the Ancient Greek name (Hierṓnymos), meaning "with a sacred name". It corresponds to the English given name Jerome (given name), Jerome. Variants * Albanian language, Albanian: Jeroni ...

' comments on the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

, commentary on the

Psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

compiled by Bruno of Würzburg, and some tracts aimed at combating the Sect of Skhariya the Jew), and as an interpreter on Muscovite embassies to

Emperor Maximilian I Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. In 1525 he was an ambassador in his own right to

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

, when the Grand Duke

Vasily III Vasili III Ivanovich (; 25 March 14793 December 1533) was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1505 until his death in 1533. He was the son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil (). Following on t ...

desired to join the anti-Ottoman League. During his stay in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Dmitri related details to Giovio of the geography of Russia and the northern countries. This information was compiled by Giovio into a separate book, and subsequently mapped by

Battista Agnese Battista Agnese () was a cartographer from the Republic of Genoa, who worked in the Venetian Republic. Career In 1525, he prepared an early map of Muscovy that was based on the geographical data, narrated to Paolo Giovio by the Russian ambassa ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and was a pattern for most 16th-century maps of Muscovy. Gerasimov also translated ''Ars grammatica'' by

Aelius Donatus Aelius Donatus (; fl. mid-fourth century AD) was a Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. He once taught Jerome, an early Christian Church father who is most known for his translation of the Bible into Latin, known as the Latin Vulgate. N ...

, juxtaposing the Latin grammar against that of

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 ...

and proposing a terminology for Slavic grammar. He was a prominent collaborator of

Maximus the Greek Maximus the Greek, also known as Maximos the Greek or Maksim Grek (; ; ), was a Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, and translator active in Russia. He is also called Maximos the Hagiorite (), as well as Maximus the Philosopher.. His signat ...

, Greek-born humanist Michael Trivolis who worked in Russia. It is widely held that Gerasimov was the Russian translator of the

Maximilianus Transylvanus Maximilian van Sevenbergen, Latinized in Maximilianus Transylvanus (Transilvanus, Transylvanianus), also Maximilianus of Transylvania and Maximilian (Maximiliaen) von Sevenborgen (between 1485 and 1490 – 1538, Brussels), was a courtier of Emp ...

' Letter on Magellan voyage.

Sources

Leo Bagrow Leo Bagrow (born Lev Semenovich Bagrov; 6 July 1881 – 10 August 1957) was a Russian-born historian of cartography, founder of the journal ''Imago Mundi''. He grew up in Russia, and initially pursued a career within the Imperial Russian Navy. In ...

. ''At the Sources of the Cartography of Russia'' // Imago Mundi, Vol. 16, 1962 (1962), pp. 33–48 *''Der russische Donat: Vom lateinischen Lehrbuch zur russischen Grammatik''. Hrsg. und komment v. V. S. Tomelleri. Köln, 2002 *Tomelleri V. S. ''Il Salterio commentario di Brunone di Würzburg in area slavo-orientale: Fra traduzione e tradizione (con unè appendice di testi)'', München, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerasimov, Dmitry 1460s births 16th-century deaths 15th-century Russian writers 16th-century Russian writers Russian diplomats Russian translators Russian philologists Latin–Russian translators Old Church Slavonic literature Russian scientists People from the Grand Principality of Moscow

Career

See also

Sources