Robert Caldwell

Robert Caldwell (7 May 1814 – 28 August 1891) was a British missionary and linguist.

A missionary for the London Missionary Society, he arrived in British India at age 24, and studied the local language to spread the word of the Bible in a vernacular language, studies that led him to author a text on comparative grammar of the South Indian languages. In his book, Caldwell proposed that there are Dravidian words in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the archaic Greek language, and the places named by Ptolemy.

Caldwell married Eliza Mault, the daughter of another missionary Rev. Charles Mault posted in India. He served as assistant bishop of Tirunelveli from 1877.

The Government of Tamil Nadu has created a memorial in his honor and a postage stamp has been issued in his name. A statue of Caldwell was erected in 1967 near to Marina Beach, Chennai, as a gift of the Church of South India. Provided by Wikipedia