Translated books of the nineteenth century used for Mordva’s education

The article is concerned with Christian faith teaching books translated into Moksha and Erzya variants of the Mordovian language and basic stages of creation of translation of liturgical books for Mordva people. N. I. Ilminsky’s and the Saint Guria Brotherhood Translation Commission’s contribution to the translation of Christian religious literature and liturgical books into languages of the Volga region national minorities has been described. N. I. Ilminsky was also the author of the original conception of national minorities education; this conception is based on the elements of orthodox educative traditions and the latest achievements of pedagogics. Before the formation of St. Guria’s Brotherhood Translation Commission orthodox tenets were translated into two Mordovian languages upon approval of priesthood of Holy Synod. According to the translator N. V. Nikolsky, the translations, made in the first half of the XIX th c. for the people of Volga region, were destined to be kept in church libraries or storehouses. Their main drawback was the isolation from natural language medium and social-cultural environment. Russian translators could not take into consideration all the peculiarities of oral speech. It resulted in wrong interpretation of sacral Christian subjects in the process of translation.