Education for All: The Legacy of Comenius

The Education for All exhibition and symposium honored the life and legacy of Comenius, including a description of his ground-breaking work and highlighting its relevance to the 21st century.

Jan Amos Comenius is considered the father of modern education. He was born in 1592 in Nivnice, Moravia and died in 1670 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. From the persecution and hardships he suffered in his life, he came to develop a philosophy, called pan sophism, which emphasized political unity, religious reconciliation, and cooperation in education. This philosophy of pan sophism related education to everyday life and called for a systematic relationship to be developed for all knowledge. He advocated teaching in the common or vernacular language of students rather than in Latin, and the establishment of a universal system of education with opportunities that included women, children, and peoples of all nations.

The two-day symposium opened with a 17-panel display depicting the life and legacy of Comenius. This was followed by an international reception, a presentation on the Czech Republic’s presidency of the European Union, a panel of Fulbright scholars from various disciplines, a lecture on the legacy of Comenius, and a film about his life.

The contributors in attendance were the Czech & Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota, the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Chicago, the Office of the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Minneapolis, Czech and Slovak Sokol Minnesota, the University of Minnesota, and the University of St. Thomas.

Please contact Renáta Tichá at tich0018@umn.edu with any questions.