Jurij Dalmatin

Jurij Dalmatin (c. 1547–1589) was a Slovene Lutheran minister, writer and translator.

Born in Krško, Dalmatin became a preacher in Ljubljana in 1572. He was the author of several religious books, such as Karšanske lepe molitve ("Beautiful Christian Prayers", 1584), Ta kratki würtemberški katekizmus ("The Short Württemberg Catechism", 1585), and Agenda (1589). However, his most important achievement is the complete translation of the Bible into Slovene, which he allegedly wrote to a large extent at Turjak Castle under the protection of the Carniolan governor, Herbard VIII von Auersperg ("Hervard Turjaški"), and his son Christoph von Auersperg, who are said to have provided for the translator Dalmatin a "Wartburg"-type sanctuary as had been offered to Martin Luther by Frederick the Wise, the Elector of Saxony. This, however, is refuted as pure legend.

The original title of Damatin's translation was Bibilija, tu je vse svetu pismu stariga inu noviga testamenta, slovenski tolmačena skuzi Jurija Dalmatina ("The Bible: That Is, the Entire Holy Scripture of the Old and the New Testament, translated into Slovene by Jurij Dalmatin"), and it was published in 1584, printed in the Bohorič alphabet. The translation set the norm for the Slovene standard language (with later innovations in vocabulary) until the first half of the 19th century.

Dalmatin died in Ljubljana in 1589.

See also

• Primož Trubar
• Adam Bohorič
• Sebastian Krelj