Daniel Ernst Jablonski

Daniel Ernestus Jablonski. A drawing by Friedrich Wilhelm Weidemann, 1724

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 Calvinist Protestants.

Life Jablonski was born in the village of Nassenhuben, near Danzig (Gdańsk). His father, Peter Figulus, was a minister of Unity of the Brethren (; - also known as "Bohemian Brethren"); the son preferred the Bohemian surname Jablonski (Jablonský) which was based on his father's birthplace - Jablonné nad Orlicí. He was the younger brother of Johann Theodor Jablonski. His maternal grandfather, Johann Amos Comenius (d. 1670), was the last bishop of the Unity. Having studied at Frankfurt (Oder) and at Oxford, Jablonski entered upon his career as a preacher at Magdeburg in 1683. Consecrated a bishop of the Unity for the churches in Poland, he was encouraged by the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg, King in Prussia, to secure the Apostolic Succession to the Renewed Unity of Brethren, the Moravian Church, and consecrated David Nitschmann bishop in Berlin in 1735.

Still retaining his connection with the Bohemians, he was appointed court preacher at Königsberg in 1691 by the elector of Brandenburg, Frederick III, and here, entering upon a career of great activity, he soon became a person of influence in court circles. In 1693 he was transferred to Berlin as court preacher, and in 1699 he was consecrated a bishop of the Unity of the Brethren. He had some share in founding the Brandenburgische Societät der Wissenschaften. Between 1700 and 1731 he became secretary of the Academy and vice president in 1710, 1715, 1719, 1723, 1727, 1729, 1731 and 1733. Between 1710 and 1731 Jablonski was director of the Philology and Oriental Studies at the Academy. Between 1733 and 1741 he was president of the Academy. He received a degree from the University of Oxford.