Theophilus Waldmeier (1832 in Basel – 1915) was a Swiss

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

missionary who later became a Quaker. Waldmeier was born in the Canton of

Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...

and was brought up by his mother and grandmother, strict Roman Catholics, who insisted on three hours of daily prayer. Deeply unhappy he ran away to an uncle in Lörrach. Despite finishing his schooling in a Roman Catholic school he came under the influence of

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christians and developed an ambition to become a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. He enrolled in the Evangelical Training School for Foreign Missionaries in St. Chrischona and was consecrated in September 1858. Under the guidance of Bishop Samuel Gobat he immediately set out for Abyssinia, accompanied by the Bishop, who was returning to Jerusalem. In Alexandria he joined four other missionaries on a six-month journey down the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

and across eastern Sudan to Debre Tabor. Two of his companions died on the journey. On arrival they were introduced to King Theodore and joined four other missionaries already there. Nine months after his arrival he married Susan Bell, the eldest daughter of Theodore's Anglo-Irish Prime Minister, John Bell. She was around twelve years old. Her mother was a member of the royal family. The Europeans were allowed to establish a boarding school which included an artisan training program. During this period Susan gave birth to five children, four of them, all boys, died in infancy. Only their daughter Rosa survived. Waldmeier became one of the King Theodore's favourites. Things changed as Theodore's character became more volatile and cruel. In 1866 he imprisoned all Europeans and their families. Waldmeier and his colleagues were put in charge of

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

an enormous bronze mortar, the Sebastopol, capable of firing a 1000lb cannonball. Thousands of people were involved in its construction. The following year the king moved his court to the mountain fortress at Magdala. Special roads had to be made for the Sebastopol which at times needed eight hundred men to move. The 200 mile journey took six months. Meanwhile, the British sent an Anglo-Indian army to

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injury, injuries after an incident. It may be facilitated by a range of tools and equipm ...

the hostages. In 1868 following the defeat of his army at Magdala the king released his fifty-seven European prisoners before killing himself. During their two years as captives the fifth of Waldmeier's sons died. He went to Beirut with the British Syrian Mission (which was founded in 1860). He started the Friends' Syrian Mission in 1873, founded Brummana High School in 1873 and the 'Aṣfūriyyeh Mental Hospital, an influential psychiatric hospital which lasted from 1896 until 1982. In 1874, he traveled to Europe to seek financial backing from the Society of Friends. British and American Quakers provided support for the Brummana School. :fr:Theophil Waldmeier

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldmeier, Theophilus 1832 births 1915 deaths Swiss Protestant missionaries Swiss Quakers Quaker missionaries Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia Protestant missionaries in Lebanon Swiss expatriates in Ethiopia Swiss expatriates in Lebanon