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Karl Gottfried Maeser (January 16, 1828 – February 15, 1901) was a prominent Utah educator and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He is most famous for having served 16 years as principal of Brigham Young Academy,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher= Brigham Young High School )〕 which became Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1903, where he is seen as the true founder of the institution.〔A search of the BYU website for "Karl Maeser" generates 658 references, such as "BYU's legacy of success dates back to 1876, when Karl G. Maeser began his term as its first permanent principal" A native of Saxony, Maeser served as a missionary for the LDS Church in four nations and held many leadership positions in the church, including serving as the head of the Church Educational System and in the central leadership of the Sunday School. ==Life== Born in Meissen, Germany, Maeser attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden.〔Burton. ''Maeser''. p. 2〕 By 1855 Maeser was a teacher at the Budig Institute in Dresden. The year before he had married Anna Mieth, the daughter of the director of the Budig Institute.〔Ernest L. Wilkinson, ed., ''Brigham Young University: The First 100 Years'' (Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1975) Vol. 1, p. 84〕 Maeser joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Dresden. He was baptized by Franklin D. Richards with William Budge.〔; 〕 At the time the church was banned in Germany, so he had to be baptised at night. At this time all Latter-day Saints were urged to gather together in Utah. Maeser and his family began the journey towards Utah, but in England he was called to serve as a missionary, serving both there and in Scotland, and delaying their journey to Utah. Among other assignments Maeser served as a missionary among the Germans in London.〔Burton, Alma P., ''Karl G. Maeser: Mormon Educator'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1953) p. v〕 While they were in England, Karl and Anna's second son was born, Karl Franklin Maeser. He died in port as they arrived and they buried him on land when they arrived on July 4, 1857. After living a few weeks in Philadelphia, Maeser was called to serve as a missionary to the German-speaking people of Philadelphia, and spent some time laboring in Virginia. While in Virginia Maeser earned keep for himself and his family by giving music lessons. Among Maeser's students in Virginia were the daughters of former United States President John Tyler.〔Winder, Michael K., ''Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church''. (Salt Lake City: Covenant Communications, 2007) p. 62〕 Maeser returned with Anna to Philadelphia, where he was called to serve as Conference President in Philadelphia. Maeser and his family left Philadelphia in 1860 and traveled across the country in Patriarch John Smith's company. Maeser thus arrived in Utah Territory on September 1, 1860. In 1860 Maeser was appointed to head the church meetings in Salt Lake City held in the German language. However shortly after this, most of the Swiss Church members moved to Santa Clara, Utah and other locations in southern or central Utah, so the meetings in Salt Lake City were ended. He was called to serve a Mission to Switzerland in 1867 and appointed mission president in 1868. He founded the church magazine ''Der Stern'' in January 1869. Upon his return to Utah in 1870, there were again enough German speaking church members in Salt Lake City for them to hold their own church meetings, and Maeser was again the one who presided at these meetings.〔Jensen, Richard L., "Mother Tongue: The Use of Non-English languages in the Church in the United States, 1842–1983" in Bitton, Davis and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, ed., ''New Views of Mormon History'' (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987) p. 277〕 In his early days in Utah Maeser served as the tutor for Brigham Young's children, but also instructed other children who came to the Young household for this purpose including Ellis Reynolds Shipp.〔McCloud, Susan Evans. ''Brigham Young: A Personal Portrait'' (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 1996)〕 In 1876, Maeser became the second principal of Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah, which was later to become Brigham Young University. He was the first superintendent of the Church Educational System from 1888 to 1901. Once, during some difficult times as the school was struggling, Maeser pondered going elsewhere. He had a dream, or what he called a vision in which he saw "Temple Hill filled with buildings - great temples of learning."〔()〕 A moving story comes from when the old Lewis building where the academy first met burned down. Reed Smoot, a former student of Maeser's approached him and said "Dr. Maeser, the academy is no more." Maeser responded "no such thing, the building has burned but the academy lives on in us."〔Stated in interview with his daughter Eva Maeser Crandall on Oct. 26, 1958. Interview by Lars Crandall. Interview in possession of his descendants. Nov. 2012 〕 For a short period of time Maeser was an assistant organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Maeser was married twice, first to Anna Mieth in 1854, and then in 1875 to Emilie Damke as a plural wife. Karl had a total of 11 children, several of which died in infancy.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 LDS Ancestral file records )〕 One of his sons, Karl Emil, went on to be a respected educator and school president. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Karl G. Maeser」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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