Aloizijs Broks
Catholic clergyman, pedagogue and translator Aloizijs Broks was born in 1898 in the village of Siliniek, Varakļani parish in Latvia. He went to school in Varakliani and Rezekne, and entered the Catholic seminary of Petrograd (St. Petersburg), where he studied until it closed in 1918. Later, he was educated at the Catholic seminaries of Vilnius and Aglona, and also studied at the University of Vienna, where he obtained a doctorate in theology in 1925.
Latgalian New Testament
Aloizius Broks' translated the New Testament into Latgalian from the Greek original. In 1933 he published "Svātī roksti. Jezus Kristus Evangelijs und Apostolu Darbi" (The Four Gospels and Acts) and in 1937 "Apostols vystules i apokalypsis" (The Apostolic Epistles and the Apocalypse). These received the Imprimatur from the Catholic Archbishop Antonijam Springovičs.
Broks also compiled and published song and prayer books, and was the editor of the important magazines "Draugs" and "Zīdūnis" for Latgale Catholics.
Career
He held the positions of inspector and director at the Aglona State Classical Gymnasium and the Jaunaglona Women's Gymnasium. From 1932 to 1940, he served as dean in the parish of Aglona. During the war he was arrested by the German occupiers. At the end of 1941, he was released and in May 1942 he was imprisoned a second time, and he did not survive the war.
Digital Edition
The Latgalian New Testament was digitised for the Latvian Bible Society with the help of MissionAssist in 2022
