Jan Amos Komenský
Jan Amos Comenius, in Latin Johannes Amos Comenius, in German Johann Amos Comenius was a Czech (but is also usurped by Hungarians, Slovaks, Germans, etc.) educator, linguist, naturalist, humanist, philosopher, politician. He had Slovak ancestors. His name is probably derived from the village of Komňa in the district of Uherské Hradiště.
He studied theology and was ordained a priest of the Unity of the Brethren. This church belonged to the Protestant Church in the Czech Republic and has been endorsing to the Hussite tradition.
In 1628 he left Moravia and set to wander around Europe. He has been financially supported by wealthy patrons who appreciated his work. He introduced a very new approaches to school attendance, which according to him should be mandatory for every child, whether clever or foolish, rich or poor. He was preaching the need for a general, visual and joyful learning. He became famous for his revolutionary concepts for “repetition is the mother of wisdom” and “learning by doing”.
As one of the first he pointed out not only the difference between healthy children and the sick, but especially the need for their education. He laid the foundation of a modern approach in the context of educating disabled people.
His philosophy is called Pansofia. The central philosophical idea of J.A. Comenius is that one harmony controls the whole cosmos.
His most famous works include e.g. Orbis Pictus (World in Pictures) published in brewer printer in Levoča (1685). During the developing of this textbook he applied the principle called Schola ludus – Learning by playing. Already at that time he shared the view that students should not only mechanically repeat the learned text, but especially understand it. Illustrations enriched this textbook.