Christian Ambrosius Cochlevius – a Polish Disciple of Jan Amos Comenius

The paper presents Christian Ambroży Kochlewski (1627–1647), a student of the educationalist Jan Amos Comenius, to whom the teacher dedicated his work Regulae vitae, in 1645. Christian and his cousin were sent to a school in Elbląg to study under the tutelage of the well-known teacher. This was prevented by some regulations of the school and town council, but after the intervention of Ambroży’s father – who had met Comenius and admired his work – the boys were allowed to become his students. The crowning achievement of the teaching and learning process was a work in which Comenius presents his views on life and gives some important advice and rules for a young man to follow. These concerned studying, travelling and leading an honest and noble life. Sadly, the young student died at the age of twenty. After his death a funeral sermon and a paper full of praise were written to commemorate the young and very promising nobleman. They were printed, and the text has been preserved and kept in the Wrocław University Library. The author of the sermon, Michał Matysewicz, who was the rector of the school in Kiejdany, described Christian as an intelligent, pious young man with great interest in studying. The text includes not only the tomb inscription and the epitaph for Christian, but also the epitaph for his father Piotr Kochlewski.