Romani Lovari Gospel of John 1930 (RMYLOV)

Overview

This 1930 publication of the Gospel of John in Lovari Romani is the first book of the Bible ever published in a Vlax Romani dialect. [1] It was translated by Jajiji (Joseph) Sattler (1902--1944), a Romany Lovari man born into a horse-trading family in Saxony, who became a Christian in 1925 and entered a mission school in Silesia. [1] Sattler translated the Gospel of John from Luther's German Bible into the Lovari dialect used by North-German Roma, titling it "O Woyako-Hiro katar o Jesuskasko Christuskasko banasgimmo ä Johannestar" (The Good News of Jesus Christ as told by John). [1] He used conventional German spelling, as his compatriots living in Germany, if literate at all, could only read German. [1] The work was published in Berlin in 1930 by the Britische und Ausländische Bibelgesellschaft (British and Foreign Bible Society). [1] Sattler subsequently travelled in a vardo (Romani caravan), visiting Kalderash and Lovari settlements in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria as a Bible Society colporteur, distributing his own translation. [1] In 1943, Sattler was deported to the Zigeunerlager (Romani camp) at Auschwitz, where he was murdered in 1944. [1]

Language and People

Vlax Romani (ISO 639-3: rmy) is spoken by approximately 8,500,000 people. [Glottolog: vlax1238]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by British and Foreign Bible Society. Translation type: New.

References