Sigismundus Evenius

Sigismund Evenius (ca. 1587 – 17 September 1639) was a German educationalist, teacher and writer.

Life Evenius was born in Nauen, a mid-sized town a short distance to the west of Potsdam and Berlin. His father was a clothier/weaver. On 23 April 1602 Sigismund Evenius commenced his studies at Leucorea (subsequently part of Wittemberg University). In due course he emerged with a Magister qualification, and in 1611 he obtained a position in the Philosophy faculty. Shortly after this, in 1613, he relocated to Halle, becoming the rector of the Gymnasium (school). (rather than Latin), despite personal differences between the two of them.

While in Halle Evenius produced a work in which he addressed the doctrine of the Eucharist, which set him against, in particular, the Jesuits and the Protestant reformed churches. Notwithstanding his essential humanism, his basic commitment to the tenets of Lutheranism is apparent across his writing. Military destruction was followed, as so often, by plague. Evenius fled with his family to Tallinn where he took over the headship of the newly founded Gymnasium (school).

He returned to Germany less than a year later, however. In 1633 he took charge of the Gymnasium (school) in Regensburg. Evenius had been much affected by the destruction of Magdeburg and his writings, which from now on were published in German rather than Latin, disclose the (then widely held) belief that his former home-city's fate had been some sort of a judgement, reflecting God's anger over he conduct of citizens. In 1634 he was summoned to Weimar, accepting an appointment from The future Duke as Schools Advisor (Kirchen- und Schulrat). Duke Ernest I would gain a reputation as a practical champion for Lutheranism and an educational pioneer: Sigismund Evenius took part in setting up and expanding a new style of school system, and he also produced the widely distributed (German language) "Ernestine Bible". Evenius believed that the destructive consequences of the Thirty Years' War must be addressed by improvements in education, and although he himself died in 1639, he lived long enough to help create a firm basis for some of those improvements. After his death his influence was if anything more apparent than earlier, as a result of the education reforms successfully enacted by Duke Ernest, the practical extent of whose own authority would be extended through the timely death of an elder brother.