Alexander Duff

Alexander Duff (1806-1878) was a Scottish-born educator and missionary. He attended St. Andrew’s University, 1821-1829, where he came under the influence of Thomas Chalmers. He was sent to India by the Church of Scotland in 1829 as an educator. He taught in English, and was instrumental in the Indian government’s decision in 1834 to make English the language of higher education in the country. In the 1830s and ’40s he was one of the more controversial European figures in Calcutta. He was not popular initially with the East India Company (he violated their policy of non-interference in matters of religion) nor with the Home Mission Board. He spent 1834-1839 in Scotland defending himself and his educational policies in India. In 1843 he left the state church and joined the Scottish Free Church; the next year he published his important treatise, Female Education in India. He continued to serve tours of missionary duty in India until 1863, at which time he returned to Edinburgh and taught at New College while also working as mission director for the Free Church.