The Archimandrite Gherasim, Translator of a Geography Text at the End of the 18th Century

The hieromonk and later archimandrite Gherasim from Iași Metropolitanate had carried out several translations form French, three known and other three attributed to him by N.A. Ursu. Apart from one, they have been preserved in manuscript copies. We have used historical, linguistic and philological arguments in order to prove the paternity of Gherasim from Iași on ms. 3533 BAR (end of the 18th century), containing a translation with scientific content, entitled Pentru descoperirea a multor împărății și locuri care s‑au descoperit și s‑au aflat la portugali. We have established the linguistic similarities and differences between the six known translations and ms. 3533, considered anonymous to this day, and we have presented other common characteristics that determined the attribution of the translation to Gherasim from Iași. We have shown that some differences are due to the source text, to the fact that the translation from ms. 3533 represents a work from the beginning of the activity of the monk who benefited from the guidance of a mentor, and that the manuscript is a copy of another copy after the protograph, presenting interventions by the copyists. We have appreciated that the manuscript can be dated around the year 1800.