Academics •
Thomas R. Ahlersmeyer (b. 1954) - President of
Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan •
Kristian Anker (1848-1928) - President of the combined Trinity Seminary and
Dana College •
Anton Marius Andersen (1847-1941) - Founding President of Trinity Seminary at
Dana College •
Georg M. Grossmann (1823-1897) - Founder of
Wartburg College •
Theodore Marcus Hansen (1886-1973) - President of
Dana College and Trinity Seminary •
John N. Kildahl (1857-1920) - Lutheran church minister, author and educator, President of
St. Olaf College •
O. P. Kretzmann (1901-1975) - President of
Valparaiso University, Lutheran pastor, author, and professor •
Peter Laurentius Larsen - Founding president of
Luther College. •
Knud Ejler Løgstrup (1905-1981) - Danish
philosopher and
theologian.
Pastor at
Sandager-
Holevad from 1936–1943. Professor at
University of Aarhus from 1943-1975 •
Thorbjorn N. Mohn (1844-1899) - Founding president of
St. Olaf College •
Bernt Julius Muus (1832-1900) - Founder of
St. Olaf College •
Robert Preus (1924-1995) - Lutheran pastor, professor, author, and seminary president •
Stephan Ludwig Roth (1796-1849) - Transylvanian educationist. •
Jacob Tanner (1865-1964) - Norwegian American Lutheran educator and religious author •
John Tietjen (1928-2004) - Noted for the
Seminex controversy. •
Peter Sørensen Vig (1854-1929) - President of Trinity Seminary and the president of
Dana College Activists •
K. G. William Dahl (1883-1917) - Lutheran minister, author and social advocate. Founder of Bethphage Mission. •
Robert Graetz (1928-2020) - Possibly the only white member of the
Montgomery Improvement Association. •
Sumowood Harris - Liberian peace activist. •
Bernt B. Haugan (1862-1931) - American minister, politician, and temperance leader. •
Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001) - Lutheran priest imprisoned by Communist authorities and later founded
Voice of the Martyrs to advocate for persecuted Christians •
Judith Hird (b. 1946) - first woman to become a Lutheran pastor. •
William A. Passavant (1821-1894) - Lutheran minister noted for bringing the Lutheran Deaconess movement to the United States. •
Roland Weisselberg (1933-2006) - Critic of the former
East Germany who later committed
Self-immolation as a protest against the spread of
Islam.
Explorers and colonizers •
Gotthard Fritzsche (1797-1863) - A founding figure for Australia's Lutherans. •
Rasmus Jensen (d. 1620) - One of the earliest Lutheran chaplains to go the "New World." •
August Kavel (1798-1860) - A founding figure for Australia's Lutherans. •
Martin Stephan (1777-1846)- Settled with a colony of Saxons, later excommunicated. •
Reorus Torkillus (1608-1643)- First Lutheran clergyman to settle in
New Sweden Missionaries •
Johan Campanius (1601-1683) - Assigned to
New Sweden, Missionary to the
Lenape. •
Hans Egede (1686-1758) - "Apostle of Greenland." •
Onesimos Nesib (c.1856-1931)- Convert from Ethiopia who translated the Bible into
Oromo and did missionary work in Africa. •
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (1683-1719) - Possibly the first Protestant missionary in India. •
Martti Rautanen (1845-1926) - First Christian missionary in
Ovamboland in Namibia. •
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen (1834–1918) was a Danish Lutheran missionary to
Batak lands,
North Sumatra, Indonesia, who also translated the New Testament into the native Batak language and was the first Ephorus (bishop) of
Batak Christian Protestant Church Monastics •
Arthur Kreinheder (1905-1989), Benedictine-Lutheran monk who founded
The Congregation of the Servants of Christ at Saint Augustine's House •
Marianne Nordström (1925-2023), Evangelical-Lutheran nun of the Church of Sweden who was a founder of the
Sisters of the Holy Spirit at Alsike Convent Politicians •
Joh Bjelke-Petersen (1911-2005)- Former Premier of Queensland. •
Kjell Magne Bondevik (b. 1947) - Former Prime Minister of Norway. •
Francis Hoffmann (1822-1903) - Once Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and also wrote under a pen-name. •
John Herman Koch (1864-1929) - Former Wisconsin State Assemblyman. •
Antti Johannes Rantamaa (1904-1987) - Finnish chaplain who served in the
Parliament of Finland. •
Parlindungan Wilfritz Togar Simanjuntak (1935-2021) - Former Indonesian Lutheran Minister. He was a member of the
People's Representative Council from 1967 until 1971 and the Ephorus (chairman) of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) (1993-1998). •
Willem Tumpal Pandapotan Simarmata (1954-2022) - Former Indonesian Lutheran Minister and Politician. He served in the
Regional Representative Council from 2019 to 2022 representing North Sumatra.
Theologians •
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - A founding member of the
Confessing Church who was executed by
Nazi Germany. •
Otto von Gerlach - Nineteenth-century German. •
N. F. S. Grundtvig - Danish
pastor,
author,
poet and author of
hymns •
Oswald Hoffmann - Clergyman and speaker on
The Lutheran Hour. •
Ernst Käsemann - New Testament studies, also active against Nazism. •
Johann Konrad Wilhelm Löhe - Celebrated by ELCA and LCMS. •
Martin Luther - German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, with whose teachings Lutheranism is associated. •
Martin Niemöller - Former
U-boat captain who became a theologian and, after initial enthusiasm, turned against Nazism. •
Jacob Aall Ottesen -
Norwegian American minister, theologian and church leader •
Gunnar Rosendal (1897-1988) - Swedish theologian of
High Church Lutheranism.
Writers •
Caspar Aquila - Tract writer. •
Johann Ernst Glück (1652-1705) - Translated the Bible into Latvian. •
Paul Henkel (1854-1825) - Tract writer. •
Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten (1858-1818) - German poet. •
Eduard Mörike (1804-1875) - German Romantic poet. •
Olaf M. Norlie (1876-1962) - Lutheran minister, educator scholar and author •
Kristian Ostergaard (1855-1931) -
Danish-American Lutheran pastor, educator and author •
Nancy Raabe (1954-) - Pastor, author, composer. President, Association of Lutheran Church Musicians. •
Johann Adolf Schlegel (1721-1793) - Poet who wrote "Spiritual Songs" and fathered two poets. == See also ==