Johann Theodor Jablonski (15 December 1654, Danzig (Gdańsk)

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

– 28 April 1731,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

educator and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

origin, who also wrote under the pen name Pierre Rondeau.

Life

Johann Theodor Jablonski was the oldest child of Petr Figulus (a scholar and Protestant pastor from the town

Jablonné nad Orlicí Jablonné nad Orlicí (; ) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Etymology T ...

in northeastern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

) and Alžběta (Elizabeth), the daughter of

John Amos Comenius John Amos Comenius (; ; ; ; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unit ...

. Comenius' family has been escaping from

Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Hol ...

since 1628, together with hundreds of thousands of other Protestant Czech and German Bohemians, to evade from religious persecution and forced recatholization imposed by victorious

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. Petr Figulus, who served as a secretary for his carer and subsequent father-in-law Comenius, travelled with him throughout whole Europe; finally he found asylum in Danzig. Petr and Alžběta had also four younger children, one of them was

Daniel Ernst Jablonski Daniel Ernst Jablonski (20 November 1660, Mokry Dwór (Nassenhuben), Royal Prussia, Crown of Poland25 May 1741, Berlin) was a German theologian and reformer of Czech origin, known for his efforts to bring about a union between Lutheran and C ...

, later religious reformer and scholar. Unlike other siblings, brothers Johann and Daniel took their surnames Jablonski (Jablonský in

, i.e. "man from Jablonné") from the name of father's birthplace. In his teen years traveled from Memel (

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

) – his father served there as a teacher and pastor for local

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

and

Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

– to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

where was educated by his grandfather Comenius; after father's and grandfather's death (both 1670), he went to Brandenburg-Prussia where he became a student in the

Joachimsthal Gymnasium The Joachimsthal Gymnasium (German ''Joachimsthalsches'' or ''Joachimsthaler Gymnasium''), was a princely high school (German ''Fürstenschule'') for gifted boys, founded in 1607 in Joachimsthal, Brandenburg. In 1636, during the Thirty Years' Wa ...

. From 1672 he studied at the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, then in 1674 continued his education at the university in Frankfurt an der Oder.Jablonski, Johann Theodor
Archive /Thulb. University of Jena In 1680, he undertook a trip to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, together with brother Daniel. In 1687, he became the secretary of Princess

Marie Eleonore of Anhalt-Dessau Marie may refer to the following. People Given name * Marie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** List of people named Marie * Marie (Japanese given name) Surname * Jean Gabriel-Marie, French compo ...

, the daughter of Prince John George II, thus moved then to Poland-Lithuania where the princess married. In 1689 he returned to the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

when he obtained a similar post – to become the secretary of

Heinrich of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby Heinrich of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby (b. Halle, 29 September 1657 - d. Barby, 16 February 1728), was a German prince of the House of Wettin and count of Barby. He was the fourth son of August, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, by his first wif ...

. In 1700 he returned to Berlin as a tutor to Prussian Crown Prince

Frederick William The name Frederick William usually refers to several monarchs and princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty: * Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (1620–1688) * Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1675–1713) * Frederick William I of ...

(Friedrich Wilhelm). In the same year he was named first secretary of the newly established

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

(which was co-founded by his brother Daniel). For the rest of his life Jablonski also held a position of ''

Hofrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

'' (court councillor).

Works

His masterpiece is the ''Allgemeines Lexicon der Künste und Wissenschaften'' ("General Dictionary of Arts and Sciences"), which appeared in 1721. In the years 1711–12, he published, under the pen name of Pierre Rondeau, a Franco-German and German-French dictionary and a grammar of the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

. Additionally, he translated

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

's De moribus Germanorum' from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

in 1724.''A New and General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and ...
by William Tooke, William Beloe, Robert Nares

References

External links

de.Wikisource
(bibliography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jablonski, Johann Theodor 1654 births 1731 deaths Scholars from the Kingdom of Prussia Writers from Gdańsk People from Royal Prussia German people of Czech descent University of Königsberg alumni European University Viadrina alumni German lexicographers German male non-fiction writers