John Amos Comenius (1592 – 1670) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education. He is considered the father of modern education. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, and Royal Hungary.

 

Comenius originated from Moravia, but history has no accurate record of his birthplace. His ancestors came from the Kingdom of Hungary. The original family name, Szeges or Segeš, seems to be Magyar and is relatively common in Western Slovakia both for Slovaks and even for local Magyars. John Comenius was the youngest child and only son of Martin Comenius and his wife Anna. His parents and two of his four sisters died in 1604, and young John went to live with his aunt in Strážnice.

 

Due to his impoverished circumstances, he was unable to begin his formal education until late. He was 16 when he entered the Latin school in Přerov. A few years later, in 1614, he returned to this school as a teacher. He continued his studies in the Herborn gymnasium and the University of Heidelberg. The Herborn school held the principle that every theory has to be functional in practical use, therefore has to be didactic (i.e., morally instructive). In the course of his study, he also became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius, and with the report of these reforms issued by the universities of Jena and Giessen. Comenius' book "The Gate of Languages Unlocked" brought him widespread prominence and fame. However, he and the Unity became special targets of the Counter Reformation movement and were forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe.

The most permanent influence exerted by Comenius was in practical educational work. He was first a teacher and an organizer of schools, not only among his own people, but later in Sweden, and to a slight extent in Holland. In his book "Great Didactic", he outlined a system of schools that is the exact counterpart of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university.

 

In the second place, the influence of Comenius was in formulating the general theory of education. The third aspect of his educational influence was that on the subject matter and method of education, exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature. The educational writings of Comenius comprise more than forty titles. In 1657 was published the Orbis Sensualium Pictus probably the most renowned and most widely circulated of school textbooks. It was also the first successful application of illustrations to the work of teaching, though not, as often stated, the first illustrated book for children.

 

The Comenius University in Bratislava, a medal, honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation and one of the projects of lifelong education were named after Jan Amos Comenius.