Christian Jacob Protten also Christian Jakobus Africanus Protten or Uldrich (15 September 1715 – 24 August or 23 October 1769) was a Euro-AfricanMoravian missionary pioneer, linguist, translator and educationalist-administrator in
Christiansborg
Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...
on the
Danish Gold Coast
The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloni ...
in the eighteenth century. The first recorded grammatical treatise in the Ga and Fante languages was written by Protten and published in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in 1764.
Early life
Ancestry and family
Christian Jacob Protten was born on 15 September 1715 in Christiansborg, Gold Coast, now known as the suburb of
Osu, Accra
Located about east of the central business district, Osu is a neighborhood in central Accra, Ghana. It is locally known as the "West End" of Accra. Bounded to the south by the Gulf of Guinea, Osu's western boundary is the Independence Aven ...
in Ghana. His Danish father, Jacob Protten, alias "Prot", "Prodt", "Prott", was a soldier stationed with the garrison at the Christiansborg Castle in Osu. His Ga mother of
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
lese ancestry, was a princess and the daughter of a chief or king, Nii Ofori Ashangmo, the ruler of the Ga state from 1660 to 1680. Historical records list his mother as Aafio Dedei of Osu Anahor. Protten had two older siblings: a brother, Wilhelm or Friderich Protten (born 28 April 1709) and a sister, Anna Protten (born 2 February 1713), both raised in Christiansborg. Archival records indicate that Christian Protten's maternal uncle, Ashangmo, also Foli Bebe or Ofori Bembeneen was a coastal chieftain in the former Portuguese slave market of
Little Popo
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
(Aného) in modern-day Togo, and ruled the Guin/Ge State there from 1694 to 1727 or 1731–33. After the passing of Ashangmo, his son, Assiongbon Dandjin became the new ruler at Aneho sometime between 1731–33 and 1737. Christian Protten appears to have been a candidate for succession but only matrilineally.
Education
Christian Protten's early education was at the Danish language- Christiansborg Castle School for mulattoes, where he was tutored by a
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
minister. Within the confines of the fort, Protten was introduced to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and mastered the
Danish language
Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schles ...
. In 1726, at the age of 11, he was chosen by his teachers and sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, together with another Euro-African pupil, Friederich Pedersen. Protten recalled that the decision to send him to a school in Denmark was against his will. His mother's family was also against this development. On the day of his departure, as he was rowed out to the waiting ship, his relatives stood on the beach, hoping the canoe would capsize and Protten would return to safety on the shore. At the age of 12, King Frederick IV of Denmark (reigned 1699–1730) took interest in his welfare and became his godfather at his baptism on 27 November 1727. After his baptism, he assumed the name Christian Jacob Protten. Protten then enrolled in a trade apprenticeship to become a
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
. Initially, he was disheartened to partake in the vocational training as he desired a more academic education. In 1732, he finally matriculated at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
where he studied
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
, at the Danish court. Shortly thereafter, he became acquainted with the Moravian fellowship and moved to Herrnhut, the Moravian colony at
Berthelsdorf
Berthelsdorf ( hsb, Batromjecy) is a former municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the southeastern part of Saxony, Germany. On 1 January 2013, it was incorporated into the town of Herrnhut. Also in 1735, Frederick Pedersen Svane, a Ga- Danish Euro-African from Christiansborg (Osu) graduated in the arts and philosophy from the University of Copenhagen, befriended a Moravian, Carl Adolph von Plessen. Together with his Danish bride, Svane sailed to the Gold Coast as an independent missionary.
Protten was deeply unhappy in Germany, noting in his diary that Europeans described him as “''afrikanisch wild''” (African savage) and “''mohrisch''” (Moorish). In 1737, Christian Protten, along with Moravia native, Henry Huckoff, sailed from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to the Gold Coast to begin a new life as Moravian missionaries. Commenting on Protten's perceived conceitedness, Zinzendorf wrote, ''"Protten has a high opinion of himself. Presumptiveness and a high opinion of oneself only prostitute a person and carry no weight with the Saviour''.” He was alleged to have been prone to fits of uncontrollable anger. Prior his departure to the Gold Coast, Count Zinzendorf instructed, ''"Dear Christian: In order to convert the Moors, you must leave all your Moorish bad habits in Amsterdam".'' Despite these negative remarks before his departure, Protten was nonetheless tasked with establishing a school for Euro-African children in
Elmina
Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina w ...
. The ship docked at Elmina on 11 May 1737. Henry Huckuff passed away, presumably from fever, a month after their arrival. This new situation resulted in a change in plans for Protten who ended up visiting his mother in Little Popo/Aného,
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
. According to the Gold Coast historian and Basel Mission pastor, Carl Christian Reindorf, Protten visited his relatives at Aného in September 1737. He was reportedly kept there against his will and only returned to Osu in 1739.
His plans to start a school at Elmina were thwarted by the Dutch Governor at the time, Martinus François de Bordes who viewed Protten as a Danish spy and detained him for three years until 1740. de Bordes died in office on 16 March 1740. The political situation at the time was unfavourable as the Dutch had waged a war against the Dahomey. During Protten's imprisonment in Elmina, he was infected with
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. Upon his release, he served as an educator for a year. In 1741, upon the receipt of a letter of invitation from von Zinzendorf, Christian Protten returned to Herrnhut, after failing to win converts on the Gold Coast. In 1743, he sailed to the island of Saint Thomas in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
as an independent missionary. While in the Caribbean, he remained detached from other missionaries there. He returned to Germany in 1745 with the aim of going back to the Gold Coast. However, the Moravian leaders were not in favour of that proposal, although homesick Protten was desperate to return to his homeland. He therefore remained in the Moravian communities for the next decade.
There were constant tensions between Zinzendorf and Protten due to the latter's alcoholism and alleged haughtiness. In 1756, Protten and his wife, Rebecca were banished from the Moravian commune in Herrnhut to the village of
Großhennersdorf
Großhennersdorf is a village and a former municipality in Görlitz district, Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Herrnhut. The Bundesstraße 178 connects Großhennersdorf with Löbau and Zittau.
The town was founded i ...
in the
Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
district. He received permission to return to West Africa, leaving his wife, who rejoined the religious community at Herrnhut.
In 1757, he received his commission from the Royal Chartered Danish West India and Guinea Company to become a teacher and a preacher at his alma mater, the Christiansborg Castle School. As the vessel approached the West African coast, it landed on the
Grain Coast
The Pepper Coast or Grain Coast was a coastal area of western Africa, between Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas. It encloses the present republic of Liberia. The name was given by European traders.
Origin of the name
The Pepper Coast got its name f ...
(now
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
) where he stayed for almost four months. He arrived in Christiansborg in June 1757 and reconnected with his family. He returned to Europe in July 1761, arriving in Herrnhut in 1762; he reunited with his wife and the other Moravians. This particular journey occurred after the death of a Euro-African pupil, who Protten had accidentally shot while cleaning his rifle at the castle. Christian Protten was briefly imprisoned for this incident. In 1765, he returned to the Gold Coast with his wife, Rebecca. With the blessing of the Moravian church, he became the schoolmaster of the castle school until his death in 1769. Earlier in 1764, he had submitted a proposal to the Danish Crown, King Frederick V of Denmark (reigned 1746–66), to establish a boarding school at Christiansborg which would include a curriculum in indigenous languages, highlighting the importance he attached to literacy in his mother tongue.
Historians have concluded that his mission education initiatives on the Gold Coast were essentially failed projects. His last years in Christiansborg seem to have been troubled. In the final decades of the 18th century, several other Moravian missionaries who were sent from Europe did not survive beyond the first few months due to tropical afflictions, particularly malaria and yellow fever.
Foray into linguistics
In 1764, Christian Jacob Protten wrote his
magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
, "''En nyttig Grammaticalsk Indledelse til Tvende hidintil gandske ubekiendte Sprog, Fanteisk og Acraisk''," an introductory treatise to the grammar of the Ga and Fante languages which was published in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. Seen as his greatest achievement, the text acted as a trilingual (Danish, Fante, Ga) catechesis manual for European missionaries who yearned to learn the two Ghanaian native languages. Furthermore, Protten translated
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
's ''Smaller Catechism'' into the Fante and Ga languages.
On 6 June 1746, he married Rebecca Freundlich (1718–1780) in Herrnhut, Germany. Freundlich was also known as "Shelly", a mulatress and a former slave from the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
who was the widow of a Moravian missionary, Matthäus Freundlich (c. 1681-c. 1742). Rebecca Freundlich was born on the island of
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
in
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...
. Rebecca Freundlich had an arranged marriage to Matthaus Freundlich. They were married on 4 May 1738. The Freundlichs were persecuted and imprisoned for their Christian faith while they were sharing the Gospel to slaves in Saint Thomas. Rebecca Freundlich had a daughter, Anna Maria Freundlich, from her first marriage, who was born circa 1740, on the island of Saint Thomas, now the US Virgin Islands. Anna Freundlich died in 1744, aged 4 years, in Germany. The Freundlich family had travelled to Germany due to Matthaus Freundlich's ill-health. He however died during the voyage across Germany. In 1750, Christian and Rebecca Protten had a daughter, Anna Maria Protten who died in infancy in Herrnhut,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in
Sachsen
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Germany.
Death and legacy
Christian Jacob Protten died in 1769 in Christiansborg, Accra, leaving his wife, Rebecca, widowed for a second time. She had not fully acclimatised to the Gold Coast and the Moravian missionaries contemplated sending her back to Saint Thomas. As she was in poor health, it was decided she remained on the Gold Coast, where she eventually died in 1780, aged 62 years. The appendix to Protten's booklet was the first published grammar of an indigenous language of the Gold Coast. His linguistic work in the Ga language predated that of the German philologist and Basel missionary,
Johannes Zimmermann
Johannes Zimmermann (2 March 1825 – 13 December 1876) was a missionary, clergyman, translator, philologist and ethnolinguist of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Switzerland, who translated the entire Bible into the Ga language of ...
(1825–1876) by a century. Zimmerman also translated the entire
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
into the Ga language. In effect, his grammatical output was an example for both Zimmermann and the Basel Mission pastor and historian, Carl Christian Reindorf (1834–1917), whose literary masterpiece, The History of the Gold Coast and Asante was written in the Ga and English languages and published in 1895 in Basel. Moreover, as a mulatto or an Atlantic Creole, Protten was able to hone his linguistic talents and abilities by blending his African upbringing and his European education, through a spatial awareness of the missionary settings he lived in during the 1700s.
Literature
* Sebald, Peter (1994) “''Christian Jacob Protten Africanus (1715–1769) – erster Missionar einer deutschen Missionsgesellschaft in Schwarzafrika''” Kolonien und Missionen. pp. 109–121
* Fay, Robert (2005), “''Protten, Christian Jacob (1715–1769), Religious Educator, Missionary''” Oxford: Oxford University Press