Lewis Hodous

Born in Vesec, Bohemia, on December 31, 1872, Lewis Hodous emigrated to the United States as a child and later studied at Western Reserve University, Hartford Theological Seminary, and the University of Halle. He was ordained in 1901 and soon left for China with his wife, Anna Jelinek.

Hodous served for many years in Fuzhou as a missionary and teacher, including leadership roles at theological schools there. Alongside that work, he closely studied Buddhism and Chinese folk religion, bringing the habits of a careful observer to subjects that many Western readers knew little about.

After returning to the United States, he taught at Hartford Seminary and wrote books including Buddhism and Buddhists in China, Folkways in China, and, with William Edward Soothill, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms. He died in Massachusetts on August 9, 1949, remembered as both a missionary and a serious interpreter of Chinese religion and culture.