Birth: 22.01.1711
Death: 23.01.1791
City: Frankfurt
Country: Germany
Place of Vision : India
Johann Phillip Fabricius was a German missionary to India. He graduated in Law from Giessen University and Theology from Halle University. After his ordination at Copenhagen in 1739, he was appointed for the Tranquebar mission in India. In 1740, he arrived in Tranquebar and quickly learned Tamil. Later he moved to Madras, where he led a small Tamil Lutheran congregation in Vepery. For 30 years, that ministry flourished under his guidance, adding many souls to the flock of Christ.
Fabricius was keen on finishing the translations of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible into Tamil that was left behind by Ziegenbalg and Schultze. He saw that the existing translations required further revision so that the common people would read and understand them. With the help of his friend ‘Muttu’, Fabricius took upon the task of revising the New Testament. After several consultations and revisions, the final translation was published in 1766. Although he started translating the Old Testament, he could only publish the book of Psalms in 1756. Fabricius was also a great hymn-writer and composed them out of his own experience. He published more than 335 Tamil hymns, and some of them were translated from German. Most of his hymns are sung even today in churches. Later, he also published the first Tamil to English dictionary in 1779.
Fabricius’ mission work was not without its difficulties. He carried out the missionary and translation activities under constant political unrest. When the French invaded the Coromandel in 1758, the house in which he lived was pulled down and he had to move between Madras and Cuddalore several times. He lost some of his translation works and translation aids during the turmoil. But his desire for the common people to acquire a Bible kept him going. After accomplishing the work, he was called for, Fabricius went to be with his Lord on 23 January 1791.
