György Dobronoki

György Dobronoki, Doctor of Philosophy and Theology, as well as teacher, was born on the 2nd of March 1588, in Dobrovnik into a noble family. There is no information available concerning his childhood and youth and neither about his family nor his spiritual growth. He most probably studied for a while in Zagreb where he also attended the opening of the Jesuit college in 1607.

In the beginning of the 17th century, Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries started to appear in the occupied regions. They also visited Dolnja Lendava where they tried to convert the inhabitants in its vicinity. We assume that this was the time when Dobronoki developed a closer relationship with the missionaries who most probably had an impact on his decision, too. On the 22nd of October 1610, at the age of twenty-two, he joined the Jesuit Order in Brno. After his studies, he taught philosophy and theology for a couple of years and later became the rector of the Jesuit college in Zagreb, as well as rector of the University of Trnava. In October 1637, he was transferred to Sopron and, two years later, he was named as the leader of the Jesuits in a town called Humenné in Slovakia.

The highly educated Dobronoki was well-known for his zeal which accompanied him throughout his whole life. There is no doubt that György Dobronoki was one of the leading Jesuits of the first half of the 17th century. This was due to the fact that he was primed for his work and vocation by the most gifted Jesuits. His abilities showed particularly in the fields of organisation, as well as economic and diplomatic activities. His selflessness kept him going towards the goal he had already set himself in his youth and all the while he kept his own personality in the background.

György Dobronoki died on the 27th of May 1649, in Trnava.

Literature, source of photographs: