Johann Ernst Glück

Johann Ernst Glück
Born	(1652-11-10)10 November 1652 Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt
Died	5 May 1705(1705-05-05) (aged 52) Moscow, Russian Empire
Occupation(s)	Theologian Translator

The place where Glück worked in the 17th century is now a national museum.

Johann Ernst Glück (Latvian: Johans Ernsts Gliks; 10 November 1652 – 5 May 1705) was a German translator and Lutheran theologian active in Livonia, which is now in Latvia.

Glück was born in Wettin as the son of a pastor. After attending the Latin school of Altenburg, he studied theology, rhetoric, philosophy, geometry, history, geography, and Latin at Wittenberg and Jena.

Glück is known for being the first one to translate the Bible into Latvian, a project which he finished in 1694. It was carried out in its entirety in Marienburg (Alūksne) in Livonia, in the building which now houses the Ernst Glück Bible Museum, established to honour his work. He also founded the first Latvian language schools in Livonia in 1683. He died in Moscow.

He had four daughters, a son (Ernst Gottlieb Glück), and a foster-daughter Marta Skowrońska who married Peter I and is mainly known as Catherine I. From 1725 until 1727 she was empress of the Russian Empire.

Bibliography

• "Mach dich auf und werde licht - Celies nu, topi gaiss" - Zu Leben und Werk von Ernst Glück (1654-1705). Akten der Tagung anlässlich seines 300. Todestages vom 10. bis 13. Mai 2005 in Halle (Saale). Herausgegeben von Schiller, Christiane / Grudule, Mara. Wiesbaden, Harrasowitz, 2010.