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Cheese, John Ethelstan, 1877-1959 (Independent missionary in Somalia)

 Person

Staff Only

Dates

  • Existence: 1877 - 1959

Biography

John Ethelstan Cheese was an independent missionary in Somalia. Evidencing a mixture of eccentricity and piety, Cheese was described as “the holiest man in Somalia” by one who knew the affection in which he was held by the Somali peoples. He graduated from Cambridge University, was ordained by the Church of England, and began his missionary career among Druze villagers in pre-World War I Lebanon. In 1925, following a period of itinerant preaching among Palestinian Bedouins, he moved to British Somaliland. Here, for 33 years, he lived the simple life of a simple holy man, emulating what he believed to be “the Presence of Christ” among the Somali peoples. Never employed by a mission agency, Cheese paved the way for the work of the Sudan Interior Mission among Somali Muslims.

David A. Kerr

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Draft letter from Constance Padwick to The Muslim World with list of contacts for information about J. Athelston Cheese, 1966

 Fonds — Box CSWC Small Collections Box 1
Identifier: CSWC 77
Dates: 1966
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections