Christaller, Johannes Gottlieb, Basel Mission linguist and translator in Ghana, born Winnenden, Germany, 1827, died 1895.

After training at the Mission House in Basel, Cristaller was sent to Ghana where he arrived in January 1853. He taught at the Basel Mission Seminary at Akropong-Akuapem and worked on Scripture translation and literature production. He returned to Europe in 1868 with the text of the Bible in Twi which was published in 1871. Based in Schondorf, he published a scientific grammar of the Twi language in 1875.

His monumental Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language - called Tshi (Twi), (1881, 1933) established the language in literature and worship and provided a basis for understanding Akan religious, social and moral ideas. From 1883 he  edited The Christian Messenger, Ghana’s oldest Christian periodical.

John Roxborogh