In 382 A.D., Pope Damasus commissioned Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (the legendary St. Jerome) to revise the multiple existing Latin translations of the Old Testament and produce an authorized rendering for the Catholic Church.

Jerome’s decades-long work based on the original Hebrew texts, along with later revisions of the New Testament translations from the Greek, became the basis for the Vulgate Bible.

In 1991, The Public Relations Committee of the International Federation of Translators declared September 30th, the date of St. Jerome’s death in 420 A.D., as International Translation Day.

The AATIA salutes linguists everywhere, and is proud to be among those who help people understand each other.

Michael Blumenthal