Life and ministry
Johann Gottlieb Kienzlen [resp. Kienzle in Rappard, Pilger-Mission] was born in Germany. He studied at the St. Chrischona Institute from 1852 to 1854.
After learning Amharic under Gobat’s supervision in Jerusalem, Kienzlen and his classmates Martin Flad, Johannes Bender and Johannes Maier left for Ethiopia in late 1855. Bishop Gobat set them the goal to reach the Oromos. However, the St. Chrischona missionaries had to settle in Gonder, where they opened a school in their homes.
In 1857 Kienzlen was asked to help with artisan work in Maqdala, the stronghold Emperor Tewodros II had conquered two years before. Kienzlen endeavoured to maintain a friendly relationship with abuna Sälama and the Emperor’s chronicler, aläqa Zännäb.
Kienzlen learned the Oromo language in Maqdala. Some years later, he began to write a grammar of Amharic. The manuscript seems to be lost. Zännäb, who had opened up to Protestants in 1858, probably helped him with both languages.
From 1859 to 1862, Kienzlen, Bender and hundreds of Oromos built a road in Checheho. In 1863, Kienzlen married Tsehaytu, the daughter of the botanist Schimper and his wife Mirritsit.
Kienzlen passed away in Gafat in 1865. He had inhaled toxic gas while building a mortar for Emperor Tewodros II.
Further reading
(1) Archival material
Staatsarchiv des Kantons Basel-Stadt
Kienzlen, Gottlieb. “Magdala & Suramba”, dossier, 1858-59. (Ref. Code: PA 653a D. 3.5)
—. “Bericht Gottlieb Kienzlen aus Magdala”, dossier, 1859. (Ref. Code: PA 653a, D 2.3)
(2) Letter
Kienzlen to Bishop Gobat, Gondar, 1859.05.04, in Notes from the Journal of F. M. Flad, One of Bishop Gobat’s Pilgrim Missionaries in Abyssinia, ed., with a brief sketch of the Abyssinian Church, by W. D. Veitch, p. 81-85. London: James Nisbet, 1860. [View at Digitale-Sammlungen]
(3) Mission periodicals
Mittheilungen aus der Correspondenz der Pilgermission, zunächst für deren auswärtige Brüder bestimmt
- vol. 3 (1865), p. 18-20: obituary
[Available at the library in St. Chrischona; Ref. EK 1.1 Mitt]
(4) Other secondary literature
Arén, Gustav. Evangelical Pioneers in Ethiopia: Origins of the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Stockholm: EFS förlaget; Addis Ababa: Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, 1978. [See p. 90; view online]
Rappard, Carl Heinrich. Die Pilger-Mission zu St. Chrischona. 2nd ed. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1908. [See p. 123-27]
Smidt, Wolbert. “Kienzlen, Gottlieb”, in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 3, ed. S. Uhlig, p. 400-01. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007. [Cf. Sewasew entry]