Georg Mancelius

Georg Mancelius (, born 24 June / 4 July 1593 in Grenzhof (now Mežmuiža in Augstkalne Parish), Courland; died 17 March 1654 in Mitau) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian in what is now Latvia. He wrote the first dictionary of the Latvian language. From 1635 to 1636 he was Vice Rector of the University of Tartu and from 1636 Rector.

Life Born the son of Kaspar Mancelius, a preacher, he attended the schools in Mitau from 1603 and in Riga in 1608. In 1611, he enrolled at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). At that time, Brandenburg was undergoing a denominational reorientation towards the Reformed faith. Mancelius therefore went to the University of Rostock in 1612 and returned to his homeland in 1615. There he was appointed pastor to Wallhof by Duke Friedrich in 1616, moved to Selburg in 1620 in the same role and became senior pastor at St John's Church in Dorpat in 1625.

In Dorpat, the administrative centre of the Swedish provinces in the Baltic region, he took over the post of rector of the town school in 1626, became a grammar school professor at the local grammar school in 1630 and was appointed professor of theology when the University of Dorpat was founded by Gustav II Adolf of Sweden in 1632. As a result, he also became an assessor at the local consistory, was promoted to licentiate in theology in 1633 and was rector of the academic institution in 1636. On 23 October 1637, he returned to Courland and became court preacher and confessor to Duke Frederick, a position he held until the end of his life. His writings describe an earthquake he experienced in 1616, as well as academic works, court sermons, poems and treatises on the Latvian language. The Latvian orthography he introduced was still used in the 20th century.

The first to be published was the "Latvian Guidebook" (Lettisch Vade mecum), or the so-called Vidzeme Lutheran Handbook. Two surviving copies are known to exist to this day (in Riga and London). This book is a convolute, i.e. six books bound together: a collection of pericopes (texts of the Gospels and Epistles for each Sunday), to which is added the story of the suffering of Jesus Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem, spiritual songs, psalms, collections and other prayers, Martin Luther's Small Catechism and the Book of Wisdom of Zerac. It is based on the earlier Lutheran handbook (1587, 1615), which Mancelius had revised and supplemented with a new section – the Book of Wisdom of Zīrakas, which is the first book of the Bible in Latvian in a separate edition and the first printed independent translation by Mancelius. This edition is a new turn in the history of the Latvian written language, as it uses new writing principles. It is a collection of postillas or pericopes (excerpts from the Bible) and the sermons that follow them, arranged according to the church year. The pericopes in this collection are included from previous translations by Mancelius, but the sermons are composed originally, this book is the first original composition in Latvian – it is the first time that such a large volume of untranslated texts in Latvian appears in it. The book has three separately designed parts with their own title pages – a total of more than 1250 pages. Copies of it have survived to this day both in Latvia and abroad. The language in the sermons composed by Mancelius is figurative and oratorical, and contains many examples and proverbs of the language used in the people.

Georg Mancelius' books were published in Latvian over a period of 23 years; with the exception of the dictionary ‘Latvietis’, they were reprinted after his death.

Contribution Georg Mancelius contribution to the creation of the Latvian written language is very significant, and he is considered the most prominent author of the 17th century. He not only improved the earlier editions of the church manual, but was the first to print some books of the Bible in a separate edition, a dictionary, examples of phraseology, and sermons in Latvian. His works strengthened the Semigallian dialects of the Middle dialect as the basis of the Latvian written language. Also significant are the prefaces to Georg Mancelius' books, which contain linguistic information about the Latvian language, especially "Latvian Guide" (1631), where a description of the phonetics of the Latvian language can be found.

The works written by Georg Mancelius are important not only in the study of the written language, but are also important as cultural and historical sources. They discuss both everyday things, historical events, and other phenomena significant for the era, such as famine, plague, markets, and others.

Selected works 1619 - De terrae motu (earthquake of 30 June 1616 in Zemgale) 1631/1643 - Vademecum (guide to spiritual texts in Latvian) 1638 - Lettus, das ist Wortbuch sampt angehengtem täglichem Gebrauch der Lettischen Sprache. Riga, 1638 (long title: Lettus, Das ist Wortbuch, Sampt angehengtem täglichem Gebrauch der Lettischen Sprache; Allen vnd jeden Außheimischen, die in Churland, Semgallen vnd Lettischem Liefflande bleiben, vnd sich redlich nehren wollen, zu Nutze verfertigt durch GEORGIVM MANCELIVM Anno M. DC. XXXVIII) 1654 - Langgewünschte Lettische Postill (Latvian Sermon Book), reissued in 1699, 1746, 1769, 1823