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Comenius School 1922
Johannes Comenius - Father of Modern Education
Comenius School 1922 |
by Kevin Behne
September 25, 2006
Have you ever noticed the word Comenius and the year 1922 on the west side of the original school building? Have you ever heard of Johannes Comenius? The architect or the school board or someone in Prague in 1922 must have known of the background of this famous Czech teacher in order to have his name posted in such a prominent place on the school building.
Jan Amos Komensky (Johannes Comenius) was a Czech teacher, scientist, educator and writer known as the teacher of nations. He was an early champion of universal education set forth in his book "Didactica magna". Comenius was born on March 28, 1592 in Moravia (now the Czech Republic). He was orphaned early and educated at the universities of Herborn and Heidelberg. Comenius began working as a pastor and parochial school principal in 1618, the year the Thirty Years War began. With the defeat of Protestant armies at the Battle of White Mountain, he fled to neighboring Poland. His wife and two small children died of the plague. For 42 years, he lived and worked in many countries of Europe, among them Sweden, Poland, Transylvania, Germany, England, Netherlands and Hungary. He wrote 154 books, including the first picture books for children. He also authored the "Orbis Pictus" (World in Pictures), an early world history text. Comenius died in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1670.
The Legacy of Comenius includes the following facts.
March 28, the birthday of Comenius, is celebrated as Teachers' Day in the Czech Republic.
The Comenius Medal, one of UNESCO's most prestigious awards honoring outstanding achievements in education research, is named after him. UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
In 1919, Comenius University was founded in Bratislava, now the capital of Slovakia.
Comenius is one of the symbols of the Czech nation.
Comenius was pictured on the Czechoslovak 20 Koruna banknote.
Comenius is known as the "Father of Modern Education".
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