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Nelson, Andrew Nathaniel, 1893-1975

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: December 23, 1893 to May 17, 1975

Biographical

Andrew Nathaniel Nelson (December 23, 1893 to May 17, 1975) was an American missionary, educator, and scholar of East Asian languages and literature. He is best known for his work in Japanese lexicography. He was born in Great Falls, Montana, to Swedish immigrant parents, and earned his B.A. from Walla Walla College. In the course of time the University of Washington awarded Nelson a Ph.D. in 1938 for his dissertation on The Origin, History, and Present Status of the Temples of Japan.

He first worked in the Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for a few years. In 1918 he married Vera Elizabeth Shoff and that same year they began their long career of service in the Seventh-day Adventist missions of East Asia. He gained particular distinction in the fields of general education and language training. He served in Japan as the first president of Japan Missionary College and later as president of the Japan Union. In 1940 he moved temporarily to China but then had to leave during the war. During World War II he worked with the United States Army as a compiler of Japanese-English dictionaries earning the Army’s Civilian Commendation Award.

Following the war he was back in Japan with General MacArthur’s post-war administration. He helped to rebuild the Japan Union of Seventh-day Adventists. In1946 he was in the Philippines where he was active in the education work to the extent of being recognized as the founder of Mountain View College in southern Philippines. He was also a chaplain at the New Bilibid Prison where he worked closely with the condemned Japanese prisoners of war. He worked to identify those who were innocent of the war crimes they were charged with. Through the rest of the 1940's and 1950's he was active in the educational work in the Philippines.

After retiring from missionary work in 1961, he was preoccupied with placing the finishing touches on his masterpiece, The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary. It is considered by many as the most authoritative Kanji dictionary for English learners of the language, and displays particular sensitivity to the difficulties they may have with the Kangxi radical system traditionally used to classify Kanji. Nelson died unexpectedly in Hong Kong in 1975.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Andrew N. Nelson Papers

 Collection
Identifier:  Collection 289
Content Description The collection includes biographical information for the Nelson family as well as for Andrew specifically. There is also correspondence between Andrew and his wife, Vera, as well as a good quantity of letters from his daughter, Dorothy, and his sister, Phyllis.Of particular interest may be his materials on his work with the Japanese prisoners of war and his efforts to gain freedom for some of them. There are notes and letters along with some stories. Also, there are manuscripts by...
Dates: Majority of material found within 1961 - 2010

Andrew N. Nelson Papers

 Accession
Identifier: Collection 289
Dates: Majority of material found within 1961 - 2010