Albert Szenczi Molnár, Hungarian writer and translator (d. 1634)
Albert Szenczi Molnár (30 August 1574 – 17 January 1634) was a Hungarian Calvinist pastor, linguist, philosopher, poet, religious writer and translator.
Although he lived the largest part of his life abroad (Wittenberg, Strassburg, Heidelberg, Altdorf, Marburg and Oppenheim) and the majority of his work was born there, Albert Szenczi Molnár contributed his work to the benefit of his country. Quoting his friends he wrote in one of his letters:
Everybody says and confirms that by publishing a single dictionary, being longed for by the whole studentship in Hungary, I can serve my country a lot more than by teaching the youth and vicarage for some years.
His pioneering Latin-Hungarian dictionaries (Dictionarium Latinovngaricvm and Dictionarivm Vngarico-Latinvm, both 1604), were, with several revisions, still in use until the first half of the 19th century. He defined much literary and scientific terminology in the Hungarian language for the first time. His Hungarian grammar in Latin was used as a guidebook until the 18th century, through which – apart from its significance in the history of science – his work greatly contributed to the unification of Hungarian language and spelling. His Psalm translations, the revised editions of the Vizsoly Bible, John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and the Heidelberg Catechism all represent living heritage. He had an outstanding influence on Hungarian literature and poetry.