Sigismund Gelenius

Sigismund Gelenius (1497 - 1554) also known as Sigismund Gelen or Sigmund Gelen, was born as Czech: Zikmund Hrubý z Jelení into a family of Bohemian nobles in Prague. He was an eminent Greek scholar and humanist.

His work

Gelenius translated Erasmus's Moria, as well as works by Petrarch and Cicero into Czech.^[1]

"Gelenius at one time studied Greek under Marcus Musurus and visited Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and France before returning to Prague, where he lectured privately on Greek authors and entered into correspondence with Melanchthon. ... Probably in 1524 he moved to Basel, where he lived in Erasmus' household. He spent the remainder of his life working for the as a scholar, editor, corrector, and translator from the Greek, even declining a position as professor of Greek at Nuremberg for which he was recommended by Melanchthon in 1525 and 1526. ... in his day there cannot have been many major productions of the Froben press which did not benefit from his selfless scholarly devotion. ... There is also evidence that he collaborated on a number of editions by Erasmus ... [also] Erasmus held Gelenius in high regard as is attested to by himself and others" (Contemporaries of Erasmus, II, pp. 84-85). A very handsome, large paper copy, of this fine example of Basel Greek printing 245, [3] pp. Woodcut printer's device on title and at end; large woodcut initials and headpiece. Introduction in Latin with text in Greek. Contemporary ownership inscription, in Greek, on title as well as a later inscription dated "1640." § VD16, C270; Ebert 339; Brunet I, 1479; Graesse II, 17"^[1]

Gelenius, a noted Czech humanist who worked a great deal with the Frobens and was well known for his work editing and publishing Tertullian. This work was printed by Heironymus Froben son of Johann, the founder of the printing house and his brother in law Nikolaus Episcopius. The Frobens are well respected as not only fine scholarly printers but also as friends of great scholars, such as Erasmus and others.

He also worked on the first printed edition of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which was published by Hieronymus Froben (1501-1563) in 1533. It was, however, full of errors which were not corrected until the 10th century Heidelberg Manuscript was returned to Heidelberg in 1816.^[2]

References

• Schoff, Wilfred Harvey (1912) Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century, Translated from the Greek and Annotated. (First published 1912, New York, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.) Reprinted 1995, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, ISBN 81-215-0699-9 .

External links

• Short article in German from the Historisches Lexicon der Schweitz
• WorldCat.org list of his better known publications(University of Maryland)