WENGER, John (Johann). Schwarzeneck near Bern 31.8.1811 — Calcutta 20.8.1880. Rev. Swiss Missionary in India. Son of Christian W. (d. 1816) and his wife, née Fischer. From 1824 gymnasium and 1827 studies of classics and theology at Bern. Adopted Baptism in 1832. In 1833-38 in Greece as tutor in an English family, then decided to join the Baptist Mission. From 1839 worked as missionary in Calcutta. Visited Europe 1860-62, then again in India (in 1874 new visit to the U.K. and Switzerland). D.D. Married 1841 Hannah Lawson, children.
Publications: Translated parts of the Bible (both OT & NT) into Sanskrit, some (e.g. Job) directly from Hebrew into Sanskrit metre, and, with Yates, translated the whole into Bengali; also translated many hymns and tracts into Sanskrit and Bengali.
– Edited Yates’ Sanskrit Dictionary (1847) and Introduction to the Bengali Language (1850).
– Bengali Grammar. Calcutta 1874, rev. 6th ed. by G. H. Rouse. 7+194 p. Calcutta 1920.
Sources: JRAS Proc. 1881, xf.; Buckland, Dictionary; *E.B. Underhill, The Life of the Rev. John Wenger, D.D.: Missionary in India, and Translator of the Scriptures Into Bengali and Sanscrit. 279 p. Calcutta 1886, with photo; stray notes in Internet.
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