Verbeck - Guido Verbeck, Herman Friedolin

Japanese: フルベッキ - Ｖｅｒｂｅｃｋ，ＧｕｉｄｏＨｅｒｍａｎＦｒｉｅｄｏｌｉｎ

Year of death: March 10, 1898
Born: January 23, 1830
He was a Christian missionary and foreign employee during the late Edo and Meiji periods. He was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His father, Carl, was a wealthy merchant, and his mother, Anna Maria Kellerman. He studied mechanical engineering and went to the United States in 1852 at the age of 22, but after falling ill he decided to go on missionary work abroad, and came to Japan with his wife in 1859, the same year as Hepburn and Brown, as a missionary sent by the Dutch Reformed Church. He lived in Nagasaki and taught at the Seibikan, which was under the jurisdiction of the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office, and at the Chienkan in the Saga Domain, where talented people from Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Hizen gathered. He was well-educated, understood art, did not seek fame, and was an honest and humble person, which earned him the respect and love of many. His students, Okuma Shigenobu and Soejima Taneomi, who became high-ranking officials in the Meiji Restoration government, invited him to Tokyo and valued his advice on education and diplomacy. The Iwakura Mission in 1871 (Meiji 4) was also based on his suggestion. He also arranged for many students to study in the United States. When the ban on Christianity was abolished in 1873, he decided that his time for political activity was over and devoted himself to the propagation of Christianity. He taught at Unity Theological Seminary (Japan's first Protestant seminary), produced a famous translation of the Psalms as a member of the Old Testament translation committee, and, thanks to his contributions to the Meiji government, he was given the privilege of traveling freely around the country, which he used to carry out local evangelism. His grave and monument are located in Aoyama Cemetery. <References> "Collected Letters of Verbeck" edited by Takatani Michio

(Takayo Kano)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治31.3.10(1898)
生年：1830.1.23
幕末明治のキリスト教宣教師,お雇い外国人。オランダのユトレヒト生まれ。父カールは裕福な商人,母はアンナ・マリア・ケラマン。機械工学を修めて,1852年,満22歳で渡米したが,病気を契機に外国伝道を決意,ダッチリフォームド教会派遣の宣教師として,ヘボンやブラウンらと同じ年の1859年に妻と共に来日した。長崎に住み,長崎奉行所管轄の済美館や,薩長土肥の俊秀が集う佐賀藩の致遠館で教えたが,学識広く,芸術を解し,名声を求めず,誠実で謙虚な人柄の故に多くの人に敬愛された。教え子の大隈重信,副島種臣らは明治維新政府の高官となったのち,彼を東京に招き,教育,外交面での彼の助言を重んじた。明治4(1871)年の岩倉使節団も彼の提案にもとづく。米国への留学生も多く斡旋した。明治6年に切支丹禁制の廃止が実現すると,自分の政治活動の時期は終わったと判断,以後はキリスト教の布教に献身した。一致神学校(日本最初のプロテスタント神学校)で教え,旧約聖書翻訳委員としては詩篇の名訳を生み,明治政府への貢献により,自由に国内を旅行できる特権を活用して地方伝道を行った。青山墓地に墓と記念碑がある。<参考文献>高谷道男編『フルベッキ書簡集』

(加納孝代)

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