Leonard Nangolo Auala (25 September 1908, Iiyale,

Oniipa Oniipa is a town in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Oniipa electoral constituency. It lies just outside Ondangwa. History Oniipa was established in 1872 by the Finnish Missionary Society. In 2014 it became ...

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

German South West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

– 4 December 1983, Onandjokwe, South West Africa) was a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

leader.

Early life

Auala was born in

. He was the son of Nakanyala Vilho yaAwala (Shihwa) waAmukwiyu and Nekwaya Loide yaShikongo shaNangolo dhaAmutenya. Auala was raised partly by Lutheran missionaries from

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He went to primary school in Oniipa between 1919 and 1929, and between 1929 and 1931 he attended the local teacher training seminary there. During 1934–35, he studied at

Augustineum, Okahandja The Augustineum Secondary School, established in 1866, is among the oldest schools in Namibia. Originally situated in Otjimbingwe, it was relocated to Okahandja in 1890, and finally to Windhoek in 1968. Previously also known as the Augustineum ...

, 1934–35, and he received theological training in Elim in 1942, when he was ordained a pastor. He received further theological training at the Moravian Theological Seminary in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, South Africa, during 1956–57.

Career

Auala was consecrated a bishop in 1963 by visiting Bishop

Eelis Gulin Eelis Gideon Gulin also known as Pinomaa or Gulin-Pinomaa (29 December 1893 - 4 August 1975) was Professor of New Testament at the University of Helsinki from 1933 to 1945 and Bishop of Tampere from 1945 to 1966. Biography Gulin was born on 29 D ...

from

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

, Finland, in connection of the Church General Synod. Auala was the first Namibian bishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a Lutheran denomination based in Namibia. It has a total membership of over 853,522 in 2023, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC) ...

(ELCIN), a member of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

. He lived most of his life under South African rule. As a prominent religious leader for both the

Ovambo people The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu, mbadja), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia. ...

and other groups across Namibia, Auala met regularly with the South Africans to discuss issues like

contract labour Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

and other facets of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

.Leonard Auala
at the Dictionary of African Christian Biography. A member of the

South West Africa People's Organization The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

, he received threats and harassment from the South African occupiers.

Personal life

Auala was married to Aina Aluhe yaSakeus from 1935 on. They had 10 children, six sons and four daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auala, Leonard 1908 births 1983 deaths People from Oshikoto Region Namibian Lutheran clergy 20th-century Lutheran bishops Ovambo people Members of SWAPO Lutheran bishops in Africa Augustineum Secondary School alumni

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References