Wojciech Bobowski
Wojciech Bobowski or Ali Ufki (also Albertus Bobovius, Ali Bey,
Life
Bobowski was born as a Pole in
Because he had enjoyed musical training and was capable of reading and notating music [3], he was sold to the court of
Around 1657, approximately 19–20 years after he was captured[4], when on a voyage to Egypt, he regained his liberty, after which he lived in Egypt for some time. It is also likely he travelled on a pilgrimage to Mecca. After he gained his freedom he became one of the most important dragomans in the Ottoman Empire.[5]
Works
Bible translation
Bobowski, or now Ufki, having been raised as a Christian and now being a convert to Islam, became deeply interested in religious issues. He translated the Anglican catechism into Ottoman Turkish, and wrote an explanation of Islam in Latin, in an attempt to increase the mutual understandings of both cultures.
Bobowski's translation of the Bible into Turkish, known as the Kitabı Mukaddes ("Holy Book") has for long been the only complete Turkish Bible, and is considered one of his greatest achievements.
Psalter
Having been raised in a Protestant family, Bobowski was familiar with the singing of the Genevan Psalms. This experience has been a great influence on his composition of fourteen Turkish psalms.
In this small collection of psalms, known as Mezmurlar and released in 1665, Ali Ufki used original melodies from the
In 2005, the
Musical anthologies
Among his achievements was the release of two
Other works
In 1666, Bobowski also wrote a
Notes
- ^ Some sources indicate 1616.
- Lwówis the most common place given.
- ^ Sources vary greatly on this one, with his age at capture being given as 13, 14, 18 and 30. Considering he had some knowledge of music, and that some of his work is mentioned in the context of 1630 it would appear that the age of around 18 is most likely, and 30 is the least likely if he indeed served on the courts of two sultans previous to Mehmed IV. The Polish Biographical Dictionary notes that he received his freedom in 1657, about 19 years after his capture. This would indicate he was captured in 1638, thus he would have been either 28 (if born in 1610) or 22 (if born in 1616).
References
- Vladimir Ivanoff, "Sacred Bridges: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Psalm Settings From the 16th to 17th Centuries" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-08.
- (in Polish) Polscy Muzułmanie, summary or reproduction of entry from Polski Słownik Biograficzny
Further reading
- Behar, Cem (1990). Ali Ufki ve Mezmurlar. Pan Yayıncılık.
- Neudecker, H. (1996). "Wojciech Bobowski and his Turkish grammar (1666)". Dutch Studies in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, 2, pp. 169–192.
- Neudecker, H. (2000). "Ordinal numbers in Bobowski’s Turkish Bible translation (1662–1664)." Folia Orientalia, 36, pp. 219–225.
- Agnieszka Bakalarz, Polaków odkrywanie Arabii Saudyjskiej, Księgarnia Akademicka 2005, str. 57–62
- F.Siarczyński, Wiadomość o Woyciechu Jaxie z Bobowej..., "Czasopism Naukowy Księgozbioru Ossolińskich", 1/1, Lwów 1828
- Neudecker, H. (2017). Two Hitherto Little-Studied Turkish Translations by Wojciech Bobowski alias Albertus Bobovius. Oriens, 45(3-4), 330–363. https://doi.org/10.1163/18778372-04503002