Zara Schmelen

Zara Schmelen (c. 1793 – 1831) was a Southern African missionary's wife, born in the Cape Colony but later moved to Namaqualand. She was the primary translator of the New Testament of the Bible into the Khoikhoi language, assisted by her husband Heinrich Schmelen.

Biography Zara Schmelen, originally Zara Hendrichs, was born in the Cape Colony town of Steinkopf (now part of the Northern Cape in South Africa) around 1793. while Heinrich was about 20 years older. Upon learning of the marriage, Heinrich was temporarily suspended by the London Missionary Society, but this was cancelled after he defended himself through correspondence. Zara and Heinrich would work together on the translation of the New Testament of the Bible into the Khoikhoi language. Her husband later took credit for the work, but admitted that he had limited knowledge of the language it was translated into.

Prior to her death in 1831, Zara and Heinrichs had three daughters and a son. Their descendant Ursulu Trüper later wrote a book in 2006 about Zara's life working in the missions of southern Africa, entitled The Invisible Woman: Zara Schmelen, African Mission Assistant at the Cape and in Namaland.