Ludwig Rhesa
Martin Ludwig Jedemin Rhesa was a Lutheran pastor and a professor at the University of Königsberg in East Prussia. He is best remembered as publisher of Lithuanian texts. He was the last prominent advocate of the Lithuanian language in Lithuania Minor.
Orphaned at an early age, Rhesa was taken in by his distant relatives. Though interested in linguistics, he studied theology at the University of Königsberg as it provided a more secure employment after graduation. He became a military chaplain of the and participated in the Napoleonic Wars, including the French invasion of Russia and the Battle of Leipzig. In 1816, he resigned from the chaplaincy devoting the rest of his life to academics. He received doctorates in philosophy and theology. In 1810, he became leader of the Lithuanian language seminar at the University of Königsberg. He revived the seminar and led it until his death, becoming an authority on the Lithuanian language.
Rhesa initiated a new revision to the 1755 Bible translation into Lithuanian which was published in 1816 and 1824. He worked diligently to correct translation errors and to improve the purity of the Lithuanian language. Rhesa was the first to publish secular Lithuanian texts in Lithuania Minor, most important of which were the Lithuanian epic poem The Seasons by Kristijonas Donelaitis and a collection of 85 Lithuanian folk songs and their translations to German. The collection became popular in western Europe and is considered the first study of Lithuanian folklore. These two publications were meant to showcase "creativity, richness and originality of spiritual culture" of the Lithuanian nation. Rhesa compiled an unfinished German–Lithuanian dictionary. He also published texts in German, including two poetry collections and impressions from his travels during the Napoleonic Wars.
Biography
Early life and education
Rhesa was born on 9 January 1776 in the village of on the Curonian Spit in the Kingdom of Prussia. The village was buried under the dunes in 1797. Rhesa's family lived in Lithuania Minor since at least the 16th century and included teachers and publishers. The family is likely of Curonian origin, but Rhesa considered himself to be a Lithuanian. His father owned an inn in Karvaičiai and guarded the coast. Youngest of eight children, Rhesa was orphaned at the age of 6 and was taken in by distant relatives – first, by a fisherman in then by a postman in Rossitten.In 1785, Rhesa moved to live with his cousin-in-law Christian David Wittich who at the time was priest in Kaukehmen. Wittich recognized Rhesa's academic interests and taught him Latin and other subjects. In 1791–1794, Rhesa studied at a school in Löbenicht. To earn a living, Rhesa worked as a tutor. He completed his education in three years. In March 1795, he enrolled at the University of Königsberg to study theology. He attended lectures by Immanuel Kant, Christian Jakob Kraus, and was particularly close with professor. Upon theirs deaths, Rhesa composed poems in their memory. Rhesa was interested in linguistics and attended lectures on the Lithuanian language, but theology was more practical as it provided more secure employment after graduation.
Military chaplain
Rhesa graduated in 1799 and worked as a tutor for a few months. In August 1800, he was ordained as a military chaplain of the at Fort Friedrichsburg. In 1806, he joined the Masonic lodge Under Three Crowns and was its member until his death. In 1807, Rhesa completed his dissertation on the moral explanation of the holy texts based on teachings of Immanuel Kant, received doctorate in philosophy, and was invited to teach at the university as a privatdozent. In 1811, he was elected a true member of the.He continued to work as a military chaplain and in 1811 was promoted to chaplain of a brigade. With his units participated in the French invasion of Russia and retreat to France. He was at the Battle of Leipzig. During these travels, Rhesa visited Lithuania proper and searched for academic contacts. He became acquainted with who later unsuccessfully attempted to recruit Rhesa to teach at the Imperial University of Dorpat. Rhesa was able to visit London and obtain 200 pounds sterling from the British and Foreign Bible Society for the Bible translation into Lithuanian. He returned to Königsberg in 1816 and resigned from the chaplaincy devoting the rest of his life to academics.
Leader of the Lithuanian language seminar
In 1810, after publishing a treatise on the Christianization of Lithuania, Rhesa became an extraordinary professor and director of the Lithuanian language seminar at the university. Earlier in 1809, the university considered shutting down the seminar due to lack of funds, but Rhesa was successful in defending the seminar. On several occasions, Rhesa defended the Lithuanian language against Germanization arguing that language is the greatest treasure bestowed by God upon a nation and the it expresses nation's spirit and character. He even suggested introducing Lithuanian language classes in gymnasiums in Tilsit, Gumbinnen, Insterburg.As the leader of the Lithuanian language seminar, Rhesa revived it and expanded its Lithuanian library. He separated students into two groups, one for beginners and another for more advanced students. The university set the number of students at 12, but the actual numbers was often double that. Rhesa later added the third group for advanced students which he taught without receiving compensation from the university. He long sought to hire a permanent lecturer for the seminar and to introduce Lithuanian language lessons at the so that the university would not have teach the basics. However, that was achieved only after his death. During Rhesa's life, the university grew suspicious of the growing popularity of the seminar. Rhesa was ordered to return it to its roots – abandon academic aspirations and focus on teaching future priests how to communicate with their parishioners who spoke Lithuanian.
Rhesa was considered an authority on the Lithuanian language. In 1830–1831, he was visited by Jurgis Pliateris and Simonas Stanevičius. Russian philologist arrived to Königsberg to learn Lithuanian from Rhesa in 1839. In 1837, Rhesa employed Friedrich Kurschat, another Prussian Lithuanian, as his assistant. After Rhesa's death Kurschat became the leader the Lithuanian language seminar.
University professor
In April 1819, he defended his thesis on sources and origin of the first three canonical gospels, received doctorate in theology, and became an ordinary professor. He taught old oriental languages and theology. In 1825, he delivered a lecture to the on the poetry of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux and his poem .Intermittently, Rhesa served as dean of the theology faculty and as prorector of the university. Since rector was heir to the Prussian throne, prorector was an acting rector. In 1829, he became consistorial councilor of the Evangelical Church in Prussia. Rhesa was awarded three Prussian state medals – medal for distinction in battle, gold medal for merits for publishing the Lithuanian Bible, and Order of the Red Eagle.
He lived a simple, disciplined life. As a professor, he was strict and thus not liked by his students.
Death, memory, and legacy
Rhesa died on 30 September 1840 and was buried near the Brandenburg Gate in Kneiphof. His tombstone depicted an open Bible with a Lithuanian inscription Tai esti visas Šventas Raštas. The other side has inscriptions referencing his three main publications: collection of Lithuanian folk songs, epic poem The Seasons, and poetry collection Prutena. The grave was destroyed at the end of World War II. As he remained unmarried and without children, he left his money for the construction of a student dormitory, known as Rhesianum, which was completed in 1854. Rhesa also left personal library of about 3,000 books. Many of these books were acquired by historian Friedrich Wilhelm Schubert who published the first biography of Rhesa in 1855. Rhesa's manuscripts ended up at the Prussian State Archive Königsberg. In 1945, some of the materials were brought to Lithuania and are now stored at the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.In 1975, to commemorate his 200th birth anniversary, a wooden sculpture by sculptor was erected near the former location of his native Karvaičiai village. Sculptor erected a stone sculpture in Rhesa's memory in Juodkrantė in 1994. In 2005, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Königsberg, the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture gifted a sculpture by Sakalauskas to Kaliningrad. In 2009, during the celebrations of the millennium of Lithuania, a symbolic Tree of Unity was unveiled in Vingis Park in Vilnius. A hundred names of most prominent Lithuanians, including Rhesa, were inscribed on the monument.
In 2007, a culture center named after Rhesa was opened in Juodkrantė. In 2008, Neringa Municipality established an award named after Rhesa for scientific, educational, or cultural achievements benefiting the Curonian Spit. The award ceremony is held annually on Rhesa's birthday.
Albinas Jovaišas published the first monograph about Rhesa in 1969. Since 2009, the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore has been working on collecting and publishing all works by Rhesa. Five volumes edited by Liucija Citavičiūtė were published by 2020.
Seimas declared 2016 to be the year of Rhesa.
Works
Lithuanian Bible
In 1809, Rhesa established contacts with Wilhelm von Humboldt, Prussian Minister of Education, who promised to support a new revision to the 1755 Bible translation into Lithuanian. The same year, Rhesa organized an editorial committee of local priests to review and revise the Lithuanian bible. Rhesa was the only university professor fluent in Lithuanian, thus most of the work was done by him. The war interrupted the efforts, but the bible was published in 1816 and 1824. In connection with this work, Rhesa published two philological studies in German: about the history of Bible translations into Lithuanian and with critical remarks on the translations.Rhesa was concerned with correcting various translation errors that misunderstood and twisted the original Biblical texts. To that end he critically reviewed the German Luther Bible, compared it with the Hebrew Bible, Greek Septuagint, Latin Vulgate, and consulted their translations into Syrian, Arabic, and other old languages. He also had various books on Biblical criticism by more than 150 authors. He was further concerned with the purity of the Lithuanian language – he worked to remove Germanisms and replace them with Lithuanian equivalents. He was less successful in identifying and removing Slavic loanwords. To find suitable Lithuanian words, Rhesa utilized the manuscript of the Lithuanian bible by Jonas Bretkūnas.