Comenius facts for kids

Comenius

Via Lucis, 1668

Comenius (28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a 17th-century Czech bishop, and an innovator in education. His name is spelt differently in almost every language. In English it is John Amos Comenius, but he is usually called just 'Comenius'.

Comenius is famous for arguing for universal literacy, and inventing the idea of a modern textbook which used pictures as well as prose to get its message across. Comenius also tried to design a language in which false statements could not be written.

Some books by Comenius

There are about 16 works, with many translations and versions.

• 1633–1638. Didactica magna ("The Great Didactic").
• 1642. A reformation of schools, designed in two excellent treatises. This is an English excerpt from the above. It explains his ideas for reform.
• 1658. Orbis sensualium pictus: quadrilingus. It is something like an illustrated dictionary, in two languages, Latin, and German

  1659. English edition.

  1685 in four languages: Latin, Czech, German and Hungarian (Magyar).

  Orbis Pictus had a long-lasting influence on children's education. It was a precursor of both audio-visual techniques and the lexical approach in language learning. There is a Kindle version in English.

Images for kids

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  Oldest surviving manuscript by Comenius dated 1611; written in Latin and Czech

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  Alphonse Mucha's The Slav Epic cycle No.16: The Last days of Jan Amos Komenský in Naarden: A Flicker of Hope (1918)

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  Portrait of an Old Man by Rembrandt, possibly a depiction of Comenius

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  Latin class from Orbis Pictus

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  Relief of Komensky in Dolany, Czech Republic

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  Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart by Comenius.

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  Czech koruna banknote depicting Comenius

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  Portrait of Comenius by the Slovak painter Karol Miloslav Lehotský

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  A collection of didactics, 1657

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  English edition of Janua linguarum reserata, 1631

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  Orbis Pictus textbook for children, 1658

See also

In Spanish: Comenio para niños