What is Francysk Skaryna?
[[File:Skaryna 1517.jpg|thumb|Francysk Skaryna, 1517]] [[File:Biblia Ruska.jpg|thumb|Titlepage of Skaryna's Bible]] '''Francysk Skaryna''' was a [[Belarus|Belarusian]] famous as one of the first [[printing|publishers]] in [[Eastern Europe]]. He helped develop the [[Belarusian language]]. He was born in the historical [[Belarus]]ian city of [[Polotsk]] into the family of a rich merchant. The exact dates of birth and death are unknown. It was about 1485–1540 or 1490–1551. Skaryna graduated from the arts faculty at the [[University of Kraków]] in 1504. In 1512 he received doctorate in medicine at the [[University of Padua]] in [[Italy]]. In 1517 he made a printing press in [[Prague]]. He published his first book called ''The [[Psalter]]'', in the [[Old Belarusian language]] on 6 August 1517. The most important part of his life's work was printing a translation of the [[Bible]] in 22 books during 1517 to 1519. Around 1522 he moved to [[Vilnius]]. He made the first printing house in the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. The first book published there was ''The Little Travel Guide''. The printing house closed down. Skaryna spent his last years working as a doctor for [[Ferdinand I of Germany]]. == Other websites == * [http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2017/01/slavic-scholar?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/aslavicscholarfrancyskskarynathemartinlutherofbelarus Francysk Skaryna, the Martin Luther of Belarus] // The Economist {{bio-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Skaryna, Francysk}} [[Category:15th-century births]] [[Category:16th-century deaths]] [[Category:Publishers]] [[Category:People from Vitebsk Region]] [[Category:Polotsk]]