James Frederick Schön (1802, in
Ober Weiler – 30 March 1889, in
Chatham) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
missionary and linguist who was active in
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
. He also participated in the
Niger expedition of 1841.
After attending the
Basel Seminary, Schön attended the
Church Missionary Society College in London;
[Dictionary of African Christian Biography website, ''Jakob Schon'']
/ref> he was ordained as a priest in 1832 and immediately went to Sierra Leone. He remained active with the Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...
until 1853.Hausa language
Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...
and is credited with writing the first Christian material in Hausa when he translated the Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
in 1843. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
in 1884.
Family
His first wife was Anne Elizabeth Nyländer, the daughter of Gustavus Nyländer, another missionary and linguist.[James Family Tree website, ''Reverend James Friedrich Schon'']
/ref> He and Elizabeth had nine children and also took in several other children including Sarah Forbes Bonetta.
Works
* ''Translations of seven Parables and Discources of our Lord Jesus Christ into the Sherbro Language of West Africa'' (1839)
* ''Journal of the Niger Expedition'' (1842)
* ''Vocabulary and Elements of Grammar of the Haussa Language'' (1843)
* Translations of Genesis, Exodus, the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles into the Hausa Language (1857-1861)
* ''Grammar of the Haussa Language'' (1862)
* ''Dictionary of the Hausa Language'' (1876)
* ''Vocabulary of the Mende language'' (1884)
* ''Magana Hausa: Hausa Stories and Fables'' (1885)
His papers are archived at the University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
.
/ref>
See also
Samuel Ajayi Crowther
Samuel Ajayi Crowther ( – 31 December 1891) was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by Fulani sl ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schon, James
1802 births
German missionary linguists
19th-century German linguists
1883 deaths
German Anglican missionaries
Anglican missionaries in Sierra Leone
Anglican missionaries in Nigeria