Christian Frederick Schwarz (with spellings including Friedrich and Schwartz or Swartz) (8 October 1726 – 13 February 1798) was a German

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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. He was known for his linguistic skills, with knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Marathi, and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and even used by the British to serve as an emissary of peace and sent to the court of Haider Ali in Mysore. He worked alongside the Indian royal families, tutoring the Raja Serfoji of Tanjore, and was influential in establishing Protestant Christianity in southern India.

Life

Engraving of Thuljaji II, little Serfoji II and missionary Schwatz

Christian Friedrich Schwarz Memorial, St

Christian was born on 8 October (sometimes given as 22 or 26 October 1726) at Sonnenburg, in the electorate of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

. His father was George Schwartz and his mother Margaret Grunerin. His mother died when he was young and he went to grammar school in Sonnenburg under Mr Helm. He learnt

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and Greek with some amount of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

which he hoped to improve with studies in the town of Custrin. In 1746 he moved to study at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

where he met Schulz who had worked in the Madras Mission. Schultz was working on Tamil bible and sought help from Schwarz. Having learned

to assist in a translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

into that language, he was led to form the intention of becoming a missionary to India. He received ordination at

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 a ...

on 8 August 1749, and, after spending some time in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

to acquire the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, embarked early in 1750 for India. He arrived at

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

on 30 July via Tranquebar. Tranquebar was for some time his headquarters, but he paid frequent visits to

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

and Tiruchirapalli, and in 1766 moved to Tiruchirapalli. Here he acted as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

to the garrison, who erected a church for his general use. There was an explosion of the ammunition dump of East India company in 1761. Lots of Native soldiers died in that. So for the orphan children of the soldiers he established Bishop Heber School in Trichinopoly. Again there was another ammunition dump explosion in Trichinopoly in 1763. In which all the British soldiers and their wives perished. Only 14 children of the soldiers survived. So for the orphan children he started a school in the Vestry of St.John's Church. The Church which had been built by the British soldiers. Later the army gave some land, about five acres adjoining the army garrison to build a proper school. The school was built by the Freemasons who all were British army personnel and civilians who all were also Freemasons. In 1769, he secured the friendship of the king Raja Tuljaji, who, although he never converted 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 popula ...

, afforded him every countenance in his missionary labours. Shortly before his death he committed to Schwarz the education of his adopted son and successor Sarabhoji (Serfoji). Schwarz taught the prince, Prince Serfoji, and another slightly older pupil Vedanayagam using the gurukulam approach, where the teacher and the pupil live together. Raja Serfoji built a church to show his affection to Schwartz and it is still seen as a symbol of tolerance on the part of that great Mahratta ruler towards different religions. In 1779, Schwarz undertook, at the request of the British authorities in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(present day

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

), a private embassy to

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

, the ruler of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

. When Hyder invaded the Carnatic, Schwarz was allowed to pass through the enemy's camp without molestation. In 1784 he established an English school in Thanjavur and this school is now known as St.Peter's Higher Secondary School. After twelve years in Tiruchirapalli he moved to Thanjavur, where he spent the remainder of his life.குடவாயில் பாலசுப்ரமணியன் (2009). தஞ்சாவூர் (கி.பி. 600 – 1850). அன்னம் வெளியீடு, தஞ்சாவூர், பக்கங்கள் 384+16. பக்கம் 178. (English Translation of the reference: Kudavayil Subramaniyan (2009). Thanjavur (AD 600-1850). Annam Publication. Thanjavur. Pp384+16. Page 178.) He died on 13 February 1798 just before Serfoji II ascended the throne. He was laid to rest in St.Peter's Church in Maharnonbuchavadi, Thanjavur. In his tomb there is a tombstone with a short memoir and an elegy in English written by Serfoji II.

Legacy

Schwarz's direct success in making converts exceeded that of any other Protestant missionary in India, in addition to which he succeeded in winning the esteem of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s. The raja of Tanjore erected a monument, executed by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

, in the mission church, in which he is represented as grasping the hand of the dying missionary and receiving his benediction. A monument to Schwarz by John Bacon was placed by the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

in St Mary's church at Chennai. Schwarz High School in Ramanathapuram has produced notable students, among them Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India. The following is the wording of the Memorial commissioned by Raja Serfoji ''To the memory of the Reverend Christian Frederic Swartz. Born at Sonnenburg of Neumark in the Kingdom of Prussia, the 26th of October 1726, and died at Tanjore the 13th of February 1798, in the 72d Year of his age.'' ''Devoted from his Early Manhood to the Office of Missionary in the East, the similarity of his situation to that of the first preachers of the gospel, produced in him a peculiar resemblance to the simple sanctity of the apostolic character.'' ''His natural vivacity won the affection as his unspotted probity and purity of life alike commanded the reverence of the Christian, Mahomedan and Hindu. For sovereign princes, Hindu, and Mahomeden selected this humble pastor as the medium of political negotiations with the British Government'' ''- Maha Raja Serfojee'' File:Schwarz_Memorial_at_CSI_Church,_Tanjore.jpg, Memorial to Schwartz by

, commissioned by

Serfoji II Serfoji II Bhonsle ( ta, இரண்டாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, mr, शरभोजी राजे भोसले (द्वितीय)) (24 September 1777 – 7 March 1832) also spelt as Sarabho ...

, Raja of Tanjore, at the CSI Schwartz Church,

Tanjore Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

File:Replica_of_the_Schwartz_Memorial_at_the_Tanjore_Museum.jpg, Replica of the Schwartz Memorial at the Tanjore Palace Museum File:Memorial Stone at the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore.JPG, Memorial Stone at the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore File:CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore.JPG, CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore File:Interiors of the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore.JPG, Interiors of the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore File:Side View of the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore.JPG, Side View of the CSI Schwartz Memorial Church, Tanjore

References

External links

Christian Friedrich Schwarz, Apostle to South India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Christian Friedrich German Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in India Tamil history 1726 births 1798 deaths German expatriates in India

Life

Legacy

Further reading

References

External links