Mikalojus Dauksa
Daukŝa, Mikalojus
Born between 1527 and 1538; died 1613. One of the creators of the Lithuanian written language.
Daukša was a Catholic canon, administrator of the Žemaitija diocese. He translated The Catechism from Polish to Lithuanian (1595), the first book published in Lithuanian in Lithuanian territory. Daukŝa’s chief work was the translation from Polish of J. Wujek’s collection of sermons (Postilla catholicka, 1599). His foreword to this book contains an appeal to defend the rights of the Lithuanian language and is an example of the publicism of the time. Daukŝa’s works laid the basis for the Lithuanian literary language.