Az erdélyi felvilágosodás kezdeteinek kulcsembere, ifjú Köleséri Sámuel
Sámuel Köleséri jr. – The Protagonist of Transylvanian Early Enlightenment (Frühaufklärung)

Summary/Abstract: Sámuel Köleséri jr. (1663–1732) was a Calvinist churchman’s son. Originally preparing for the same career, he acquired a doctorate in philosophy and theology at Batavian (Dutch) universities. However, he ultimately became a doctor and an expert in geology, and was employed by the newly established Habsburg government. In 1699 he became the supervisor of Transylvanian ore mining, while later he was a secretary and advisor to the government (gubernium). A rich correspondence records his contacts with leading European scientifi circles (the dominantly Latin correspondence has recently been published in an annotated edition: Jakó Zsigmond: Köleséri Sámuel tudományos levelezése (Sámuel Köleséri’s Scientifi c Correspondence) (1709–1732). Ed. Zsuzsa Font. Kolozsvár, 2012.) This correspondence testifi es to an intense interest toward Christian Wolff (1679–1754), and includes Köleséri’s opinion and refl ections about the philosopher-professor’s removal from his position at the University of Halle in 1723. Köleséri was the earliest Transylvanian expert in the philosophical system of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), and the world-class master of –among others – Christian Wolff (1679–1754). In the 1720s, he became the initiator and patron of several Latin editions of Leibniz’s works, and also of the 1728 printed composite volume entitled Godefridi Guilielmi Leibnitii Principia philosophiae more geometrico demonstrata. In this work, one of the contributors as a translator and editor (and a helper of Leibniz during his lifetime) was Michael Gottlieb Hansch (1683–1749).

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