NAU, Heinrich (Henry). Beltershausen, Marburg 21.9.1881 — Greensboro, NC 17.5.1956. German Lutheran Missionary and Student of Indology (Tamil). Son of a farmer, Peter Nau, and Anna Katherine Hofmeister. Studied at Marburg. Emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1902. Now turned to religion and studied at Concordia Seminary in St.Louis. Missionary in South India 1905-14. Learned Tamil and Sanskrit. In 1914 an illness forced him to leave India. He visited his parents and WW I forced him to remain in Germany. Served briefly in army, then as chaplain in a hospital. After war priest in Chemnitz and Berlin. Now studied Indology at Halle under Hultzsch. Ph.D. 1920 Halle. As German citizen he was not allowed back to India and instead returned to the U.S.A. Taught at Lutheran colleges in New Orleans (1921-25) and Greensboro, NC (1925-50). In the late 1930s in Nigeria in missionary work. Again missionary in India working on Muslims, 1951-54. Married Helen Carolina Bertha Hempfling (1885–1971), seven children.

Publications: Diss. Prolegomena zu Paṭṭaṇattu Piḷḷayāras Pāḍal. 112 p. Zwickau 1919.

– Vanji Bhumi: Einiges über Travancore und seine Bewohner. St.Louis 1913.

Sources: Diss. in Janert, briefly mentioned by Lehmann; details in cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=N&word=NAU.HEINRICH and LCMS-175-Synod-Anniversary-Handout-Henry-Nau; parents and wife in ancestry.com.