Duff, Alexander

DUFF, ALEXANDER. - Protestant missionary, b. in Scotland in 1806, d. there in 1878. Sent by the Scottish Church to India, he reached it in 1830 after a shipwreck, learned its language and began founding schools. After a brief return to his homeland to promote the work of the mission, in 1839 he was again in India.

In the schism of the Church of Scotland, he joined the Free Church of Scotland and had to start over from scratch, since the mission's properties belonged to the official Church. To regain his failing health, he made another journey to his homeland in 1850, and was elected "moderator" of the Free Church. Having recovered, he visited the United States in 1854, and returned to Calcutta in 1856 shortly before the uprising of 1857, during which he remained at his post. His mission became famous for its many schools, for the conversion of some Brahmins and for the introduction of the women's society "Zenana Bible and Medical Mission" for the purpose of entering families and working for the conversion of Indian women. Worn out in strength, he saw his homeland again in 1864, where he was still able to establish a school of evangelical theology, to take an interest in the missions of his church, especially those of central Africa, and to work for the union of the Scottish Presbyterian Churches.