Schmelen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
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Heinrich Schmelen
Reverend Johann Heinrich Schmelen, born Johann Hinrich Schmelen (7 January 1776 – 26 July 1848) was a German missionary and linguist who worked in South Africa and South-West Africa. Traveling through the area of today's northern South Africa ...
(1776–1848), German missionary, linguist, and translator
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Zara Schmelen ( 1793–1831), Southern African mission assistant and translator, wife of Heinrich
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