Eli Smith

1801-1857. American Congregational missionary and Orientalist. Born at Northford, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale (1821) and Andover Seminary (1826). Ordained the latter year, he engaged in mission work under the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]] in Malta and Syria. In 1830, with H.G.O. Dwight, he explored Asia Minor, Armenia, Georgia, and Persia. The two published a book dealing with their trip which led to the establishment of the American mission among Nestorian Christians. In 1838 he and Edward Robinson explored Sinai, Palestine, and S Syria. The last ten years of Smith's life were spent translating the Bible into Arabic. He died at Beirut.