Ferenc Xaver Berke de Nagybarkóc (;

Prekmurje Slovene Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect, Eastern Slovene, or Wendish (, , Prekmurje Slovene: ''prekmürski jezik, prekmürščina, prekmörščina, prekmörski jezik, panonska slovenščina''), is the language of Prekmurje in Easte ...

: ''Ferenc Xaver Berke''; c. 1764 – 10 February 1841) was a Hungarian Slovene

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor and writer.

Life

Born in Sembiborci ( Sebeborci), he was the son of János Berke (1734–1820) and Judita Novák (daughter of the nobleman Ferenc Novák). His parents belonged to the petty nobility (gentry). One of his ancestors, Ambrosius Berke, received confirmation of his earlier nobility and privileges in 1609, after older documents had been lost in the war with the Ottomans. Berke attended elementary school in

Nemescsó Nemescsó ( Croatian and ) is a village in Vas county, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, ...

, and by 1778 was at the Lutheran lyceum in

Pozsony Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. He then studied for three years at the University of

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

in Germany. He married twice, first to the noblewoman Elisabeth Posgay, widow of János Ringhoffer, and after her death to Anna Zsuzsanna Bachich, widow of the nobleman Péter Horváth, the Lutheran pastor in Meszlen. Bachich's father was István Bachich, the senior (superintendent) of the Lutheran congregation in Sopron. Neither of the two marriages produced children. Berke's younger brother József Berke (1772–1833) was the pastor in Križevci, Croatia from 1805 to 1833. After 1790, Berke was the pastor in Križevci until October 14, 1805, when he became the pastor in

Puconci Puconci (; in older sources also ''Pucinci'', , Prekmurje Slovene: ''Püconci'') is a settlement in the Prekmurje region in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Puconci. Prior to 1920 it was known as Battyánd. Church ...

and later the senior (superintendent) of the Lutheran congregation. Berke and Mátyás Godina published a second edition of the Prekmurje-dialect ''

Nouvi Zákon ''Nouvi Zákon'' (New Testament) is the best-known work of the Hungarian Slovene writer István Küzmics. ''Nouvi Zákon'' is a translation of the New Testament into the Prekmurje Slovene dialect. This text and Miklós Küzmics's ''Szvéti Eva ...

'' (

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

) ny

István Küzmics István Küzmics (also known in Slovene as Štefan or Števan Küzmič, c.1723 – December 22, 1779) was the most critical Lutheran writer of the Slovenes in Hungary. He was born at Strukovci, in the Prekmurje region of what was then Vas Count ...

. In 1829, sanction to the György Czipott's prayer-book ''Dühovni áldov.''

Literature

*Vili Kerčmar: ''Evangeličanska cerkev na Slovenskem'',

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; ;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. ) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Murska Sob ...

1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Berke, Ferenc Slovenian writers and poets in Hungary Slovenian Lutheran clergy Slovenian writers 1841 deaths Year of birth unknown 18th-century Hungarian male writers 18th-century Hungarian writers 19th-century Hungarian male writers People from the Municipality of Moravske Toplice People from the Municipality of Puconci Year of birth uncertain

Life

See also

Literature