Effenberg, Johann Heinrich (John Henry), 1894-1982
Person
Dates
- Existence: September 17, 1894 to February 24, 1982
Biographical
Johann Heinrich Effenberg, also called John Henry Effenberg, was born on September 17, 1894, in Dresden, Germany. He became a literature evangelist in 1914 and received a Seventh-day Adventist ministerial license in 1918. During the years of WWI he served as a noncombatant, which was quite unusual for German Adventists during that time. Through his efforts the status of over 40 other Adventists were changed from combatant to noncombatant. In 1918 he was working as the treasurer of a conference. Between 1919 and 1922 Effenberg worked as the conference evangelist. The following three years were spent as a district elder. In May 1925, he was ordained to the ministry by William A. Spicer, and two months later (July 19, 1925) he married Emmy Heil (1900–1974).
The newlyweds left as missionaries to China and arrived there on September 25, 1925. The following six years Effenberg served as the director of the East Szechwan Mission in Chungking, China. From 1932 to 1935 he was the superintendent of the Northwest China Union Mission in Lanchow, China. In 1936 and 1937 he worked as both departmental secretary of the Anhwei Mission of Seventh-day Adventists in Nanking, China, and director of the Medical Cadet and Red Cross Work. Then in 1938 he became the departmental secretary of the Central China Union Mission in Hankow. Between 1941 and 1946 he was the superintendent of the Wuhan Sanitarium and Hospital as well as the chairman of the Emergency Mission Committee. Due to his German citizenship he was allowed to stay during the Japanese occupation while all American missionaries were forced to leave China. From 1947 to 1949 he worked as an assistant in the treasury department of the China Division.
Effenberg studied two and a quarter years in the Seminary at Friedensau, Germany. Further, he studied four years at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Wilhelm University at Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). Later he studied three and a half years in the SDA Chinese Language Institute at Shanghai, China. He studied also in three universities in the USA, including the University of California, Berkely. Effenberg eventually held five doctorates (Ph.D., L.L.D., D.D., N.D., Ps.D.), one of them a “honoris causa.” He was a member of various medical and naturopathic associations. Little is known concerning his later career except that in 1953 he was associate professor of Natural Therapeutics in the School of Health at Sierra State University in California.
Some time after the death of his wife Emmy on July 7, 1974, he remarried. He died on February 24, 1982, in Fresno, Calif., and was survived by his second wife, Anna, his two daughters, Agnes Dorosh and Irmgard Effenberg, his son, John, Jr., and two stepdaughters, Lorraine Heater and Rose Scott, as well as one stepson, George Hurd.
He wrote, among other publications, the books, Aus dem Wunderland, dem Reich der Mitte: Tschung Kuo (1935), Ozone, God’s Gift to Humanity (1951), and Personality and the Body: A Handbook on the Role of Diet and Health in Personality Engineering (1962). As an outgrowth of his trouble gaining noncombatancy status in WWI he helped establish a training curriculum to train youth for the Red Cross Service as a way to help them more easily avoid active combatancy.
The newlyweds left as missionaries to China and arrived there on September 25, 1925. The following six years Effenberg served as the director of the East Szechwan Mission in Chungking, China. From 1932 to 1935 he was the superintendent of the Northwest China Union Mission in Lanchow, China. In 1936 and 1937 he worked as both departmental secretary of the Anhwei Mission of Seventh-day Adventists in Nanking, China, and director of the Medical Cadet and Red Cross Work. Then in 1938 he became the departmental secretary of the Central China Union Mission in Hankow. Between 1941 and 1946 he was the superintendent of the Wuhan Sanitarium and Hospital as well as the chairman of the Emergency Mission Committee. Due to his German citizenship he was allowed to stay during the Japanese occupation while all American missionaries were forced to leave China. From 1947 to 1949 he worked as an assistant in the treasury department of the China Division.
Effenberg studied two and a quarter years in the Seminary at Friedensau, Germany. Further, he studied four years at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Wilhelm University at Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). Later he studied three and a half years in the SDA Chinese Language Institute at Shanghai, China. He studied also in three universities in the USA, including the University of California, Berkely. Effenberg eventually held five doctorates (Ph.D., L.L.D., D.D., N.D., Ps.D.), one of them a “honoris causa.” He was a member of various medical and naturopathic associations. Little is known concerning his later career except that in 1953 he was associate professor of Natural Therapeutics in the School of Health at Sierra State University in California.
Some time after the death of his wife Emmy on July 7, 1974, he remarried. He died on February 24, 1982, in Fresno, Calif., and was survived by his second wife, Anna, his two daughters, Agnes Dorosh and Irmgard Effenberg, his son, John, Jr., and two stepdaughters, Lorraine Heater and Rose Scott, as well as one stepson, George Hurd.
He wrote, among other publications, the books, Aus dem Wunderland, dem Reich der Mitte: Tschung Kuo (1935), Ozone, God’s Gift to Humanity (1951), and Personality and the Body: A Handbook on the Role of Diet and Health in Personality Engineering (1962). As an outgrowth of his trouble gaining noncombatancy status in WWI he helped establish a training curriculum to train youth for the Red Cross Service as a way to help them more easily avoid active combatancy.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Johann Heinrich Effenberg Collection
Collection
Identifier: Collection 21
Content Description
Letters between J. H. Effenberg and Louise Dederen of the Adventist Heritage Center and Effenberg's works.
Dates:
Majority of material found within 1917 - 1972
Johann Heinrich Effenberg Collection
Accession
Identifier: Collection 21
Dates:
Majority of material found within 1917 - 1972