Rev Adolf Kristen SJ

Title:

Rev

First Name:

Adolf

Middle Names:

Preferred Name:

Surname:

Kristen

Order:

SJ

Date of Birth:

07-Sep-1848

Place of Birth:

Country of Birth:

Austria

Date of Ordination:

1881

Place of Ordination:

Country of Ordination:

Ordination Diocese:

Seminary:

Date of Death:

05-Aug-1907

Place of Death:

Kapornak

Country of Death:

Hungary

Date of Burial:

1907

Place of Burial:

Kapornak

Country of Burial:

Hungary

Find A Grave URL:


Appointments Table

Diocese
Place
Role
Start Day
Start Month
Start Year
End Day
End Month
End Year
Source
Adelaide Port Darwin1884Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants
Adelaide Rapid Creek1886Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants
Adelaide Sevenhill1894Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants
Adelaide Kooringa (Burra)18951898Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants
Port Pirie Jamestown18981900Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants
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Biographical Notes

Fr Frank Cresp, Good and Faithful Servants: Recalling the Spirit of the Deceased Priests of the Diocese of Port Augusta and Port Pirie 1888-2008, 2008:
Kristen, Adolf, SJ

Born: 7/9/1848 in Austria.
Entered Jesuits: 20/10/1866. Ordained: 1881.
Arrived at Port Adelaide on 15/10/1884. Immediately sent to Port Darwin and Rapid Creek in 1886. Co-founded the Sacred Heart Station on the Daly River. In 1894 he was sent to Sevenhill and worked at Kooringa (Burra) 1895-98; Jamestown 1898-1900.
Returned to Austria.
Died: 3/8/1907 at Kapornak. Aged 59.
In Australia he wrote an Aboriginal Grammar between 1895 and 1900. It is a work of genuine scholarship.

(Reproduced with the approval of Sister Mary Cresp RSM)

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Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Kristen, Adolf

Missionary; born Austria, 7 September 1848; died Kapornak, Hungary, 5 August 1907, aged 58.

Adolf Kristen entered the Society, 20 October 1866, possibly at St Andrä. In 1871 he taught at Kalksburg College, and studied theology at Innsbruck, being ordained in 1881. The next year he was prefecting in the College of Mariaschein, followed by tertianship at St Andrä. He became a prefect at Kalksburg College, 1883-4, before being sent to Australia, arriving at Port Adelaide, 15 October 1884.

He was immediately sent to Port Darwin and Rapid Creek, and, in 1886, co-founded the Sacred Heart station on the Daly River. He worked on various stations on the Daly until his health broke down in 1894, when he was sent to Sevenhill. He worked at Kooringa, called 'the Burra', 1895-98, and at Jamestown, 1898-1900, when he returned to Austria. He was at the retreat house in Vienna, 1901-03; was a pastor first at Innsbruck, 1903-05, and then at Kapornak, Hungary, until his death.

In Australia he wrote an aboriginal grammar, between 1895 and 1900. His work showed an excellent command of English. He was also well versed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. The grammar is a work of genuine scholarship, but the labour involved probably contributed to his declining health and strength.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)