Felician Martin von Zaremba

Felician Martin von Zaremba was born in Zaroy bei Grodno, Poland (modern Hrodna in Belarus). He studied in Dorpat and Moscow. He gave up a diplomatic career after contacts with the Pietist movement and became a missionary with the Basel Mission and worked with August Heinrich Dittrich in the Caucusus in the 19th Century. Czar Alexander I was sympathetic to evangelical missions, but his successor Nicholas I ended the Caucusus mission by mandate in 1833. Zaremba worked, however, from 1822-1838 in the region, moving into Armenia. He founded an evangelical printing press and college in Armenia. He coined the expression: "The Orient can only be reached by the Orient." He moved twice back and forth between the Caucasus and Basel, working with and for the mission agency, and died in Basel. He authored three books.

Fred Foster (historian) via email