John Amos Comenius

Craig Atwood (Wake Forest University)
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John Amos Comenius is most famous today for his pioneering work on pedagogy, but he was also a theologian, bishop, cartographer, hymn writer, novelist, lexicographer and social reformer.

Comenius was probably born on 28 March 1592 in Nivnice, a small village in southeastern Moravia near Uhersky Brod (now in the Czech Republic), but since his family had originally come from Komna, he adopted the Latinized surname Comenius in school. He and his family were members of the Unity of the Brethren, an illegal religious Reformation sect founded during the 15th century. When he was sixteen he was sent to the premier Brethren’s school of Pøerov in Moravia, where he would later teach. His teacher, Bishop Lánecký (Lanecius), gave him the name Amos, as a pun on the Latin amor (loving), on account

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Citation: Atwood, Craig. "John Amos Comenius". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 February 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=974, accessed 19 March 2024.]

974 John Amos Comenius 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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