Ellis, William

Ellis, William, 1794–1872, English missionary, pioneer of printing in the Pacific. Sent in 1816 to Polynesia as a nonconformist missionary, he set up at Tahiti the first printing press in the South Seas. He developed a form of writing for the Hawaiian language, and included in his works valuable antiquarian materials on Polynesia. He also worked in Madagascar and wrote a history of that land.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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