米卡艾尔·阿格里科拉

生平

早年

Michael Olaui 或 Mikkel Olofsson（芬兰语：Mikael Olavinpoika）在大约1510年左右时出生于瑞典（现为芬兰）新地区佩诺市镇的托尔斯比村（Torsby），他的名字是以佩诺教堂的主保圣人命名的。他确切的生日日期跟大部分他的生平资料一样为未知的。根据当地执达吏的说法，他来自一个富裕的农民家庭，有三个兄弟姊妹，但他们的名字都不详。他的老师认识到他对于语言的天赋，他的教区牧师巴塞洛缪斯将他送到维堡的拉丁学校进行一些祭司训练，在那里他所就读的学校为伊拉斯谟学校。目前还不清楚他的母语为芬兰语或者瑞典语；佩诺主要是一个瑞典语区，但他在作品中使用的语言表明他是芬兰语的母语者。然而他精通两种语言就像都是他的母语一样，很有可能他是个双语的孩子。

Mikael Agricola (Finnish: [ˈmikɑel ˈɑɡrikolɑ] ; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territory at the time. He is often called the "father of literary Finnish".

Agricola was consecrated as the bishop of Turku (Åbo) in 1554, without papal approval. He continued the reform of the Finnish church (then a part of the Church of Sweden) along Lutheran lines. He translated the New Testament into Finnish and also produced the prayer book and hymns used in Finland's new Lutheran Church. This work set the rules of orthography that are the basis of modern Finnish spelling. His thorough work is particularly remarkable in that he accomplished it in only three years.

He died of sudden illness while returning from a trip during which he assisted in negotiating the Treaty of Novgorod with the Tsardom of Russia.

Biography

Early life

Michael Olaui or Mikael Olofsson (Finnish Mikael Olavinpoika) was born in c. 1510 in the village of Torsby in Pernå (Pernaja), Nyland (Uusimaa), in what now is part of Finland but then was part of Sweden. He was named after the patron saint of Pernå's church. The exact date of his birth, like most details of his life, is unknown. His family was a quite wealthy gentry family according to the local bailiff's accounting. He had three sisters, but their names are not known. His teachers apparently recognized his aptitude for languages and his rector Bartholomeus sent him to Viborg (Fi. Viipuri; now Vyborg, Russia) for Latin school and some priestly training, where he attended the school of Erasmus. It is not known whether his first language was Finnish or Swedish; Pernå was mostly a Swedish-speaking district, but the language he used in his works indicates that he was a native speaker of Finnish. However, he mastered both languages like a native speaker and was possibly a bilingual child.

Studies

When Michael studied in Viborg (Viipuri) he assumed the surname Agricola ("farmer" gv. "agriculture");……

Literary achievements

Abckiria

Agricola had thought about translating the New Testament in his early years of study. At the time, however, there was no standard written form of Finnish, so he started developing it. His first book, Abckiria, which is nowadays known as the "ABC-kirja" or ABC book, was a primer for reading and a catechism. It was first printed in 1543. The catechism was included because only very few people could afford the whole Bible at the time. The first printing contained 16 pages.

A second printing was released in 1551 with 24 pages.

In 1966 Åke Åbergin, a librarian, discovered parts, while repairing book bindings, from an as yet unknown (likely the third) edition of the "ABC-kirja" that included the name of the printer, Amund Lauritsanpoika, and fortuitously the publishing date of 1559 (two years after the author's death) of the final as yet undiscovered 8 pages. The pages were likely the result of an imposing error and relegated to padding paper.

Rucouskiria

Agricola's Rucouskiria Bibliasta (contemporary Finnish spelling: Rukouskirja; literally, "Prayer Book from the Bible") was printed in March 1544.……

New Testament translation

Agricola's most prominent book is the first Finnish-language translation of the New Testament.……

Commemorations

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America remembers Bishop Agricola annually on 10 April.

Mikael Agricola Church in Helsinki is named after Agricola. As well the Agricola Lutheran Church memorializes his namesake in Toronto Canada. An asteroid 3212 Agricola is named after Agricola.

In 2007, 450 years after his death, Agricola was selected as the main motif for a commemorative coin, the €10 Mikael Agricola and Finnish language commemorative coin. This collector coin was issued to honor Agricola's life work as a contributor to the Protestant reformation in Finland and as the father of the Finnish written language. The reverse side depicts a quill to reference the writer, while the coin's obverse side contains an artistic interpretation of a human figure.