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Ernst, Luis Federico (1874–1952)

By Silvia C. Scholtus

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Silvia C. Scholtus

First Published: June 13, 2021

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Luis Federico Ernst was one of the first Adventists in Uruguay. He was a prominent pastor and administrator of the church in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.1

First Years in Uruguay (1874–1898)

Luis Ernst was born on January 15, 1874. He was the seventh of 12 children. His parents were Roberto Ernst and Lisette Kaspar, who settled in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay as immigrants of Swiss origin.

Luis Ernst and his brother Julio heard of the Adventist message in a meeting directed in German by Frank Henry Westphal (1858–1944).2 Luis’ interest in the Adventist beliefs led him to receive the baptism officiated by Westphal in November 1896, in River Plate, among the first 18 baptized in Uruguay.3 He was then about 23 years old. The Ernst brothers integrated the first Adventist church in Uruguay, organized by Westphal in Nueva Helvecia in 1897, and became one of the first pastors in the country.4 Luisa Ernst de Hugo, Luis’ sister, became a great advocate of Adventism in her land and served as treasurer of the Uruguay Mission.

Training, Marriage, and First Years of Service (1898–1909)

In 1898 Luis Ernst made the decision to attend school and thus obtain the necessary preparation to serve God. With that purpose in mind he transferred the cheese factory to his brother and traveled to Entre Ríos, Argentina. Without knowing that the school had not yet emerged, he arrived at Crespo, Entre Ríos, on Friday, September 26, 1898, when church leaders were holding a congress. He presented his concerns before them.5 The interest and sacrifice made by Ernst led the leaders to reconsider the decision to suspend the creation of a school and set out to continue with the project.6 Ernst was under the mentorship of Pastor Westphal. He served as an interpreter from German to Spanish during their missionary trips and received history, grammar, and theology lessons from Westphal. Luis also helped in the construction of the first building of Diamante School and in the excavation of the water well.

In those years Luis Ernst met Emma Köhli (1881–1955) and married her in 1901, at age 27. Emma had studied the teacher's course in Diamante School and had left to work in 1900.7 From the relationship between Luis and Emma, ten children were born. The firstborn, Daniel, was born in 1902 (he married Ana Dalinger). He was followed by María Julia, in 1903 (she married Elidano Achiras); Joel, 1904; Benjamín, 1906; Irma, 1912 (she married twice—her first husband was Generoso Medina and the second José Ramos); Hulda, 1908 or 1914 (she died at the age of 2); Loida, 1916 (she married Enrique Schmidt); Edelvina, 1918 (she married Lorenzo Baum); Ofelia, 1921 (she married Amaro Peverini); and René, 1924 (he married Loida Gerber).8 In 1903, when Luis was about 29 years old, he entered the pastoral ministry.

Between 1904 and 1909, during his first years of ministry, Luis worked at the beginning of the Alto Parana Mission, which included Paraguay, the national territories of Misiones and Chaco, and the province of Corrientes, in Argentina. He was ordained to the pastoral ministry on October 25, 1905, at a regional congress held in Rosario del Tala, Entre Ríos, Argentina. He became the first pastor graduated in River Plate. His ministry gave a strong impetus to the organization of groups and churches, and he sought to make each church have a school to instruct its own children. That task was strongly supported by his brother Julio Ernst, who succeeded him in the administrative responsibility of that mission.9 During these years he collaborated in different administrative activities in the church in the territory of Argentina. The beginnings were not easy in those days, as he encountered much opposition in the spread of Adventist beliefs.10 He had his residence in Colonia González, Paraguay. There his wife opened a school to teach reading, particularly to children.11

Luis Ernst wanted members to feel they were part of a larger body, and made an effort to organize general meetings with the groups and church in his administrative territory. He managed to buy a big tent to use during the meetings.12 In those years Luis had an important part in the decision to make the South American Mission a union.

Ministry in Argentina and Uruguay (1910–1952)

Between 1910 and 1912 he was pastoring the territory of the provinces of Santa Fe, Corrientes, Chaco and Entre Ríos, in Argentina. He also integrated the executive committee of the Argentine Conference.

Subsequently, from 1912 to 1916 he continued his activities in Uruguay and in Argentina, in the province of Buenos Aires and in Central Pampa. He started selling religious literature in the city of Bahía Blanca, province of Buenos Aires, and formed a group in Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires. He was also a member of the steering committee of the Argentine Conference. In 1916 he participated actively in the meetings of the conference, which reorganized the territory in the countries of South America. On that occasion the Austral Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists took charge of the territory of “the platense republics, Chile and the Falkland Islands.” The South American Division was also organized, which would be in charge of the territory of the new Austral Union Conference, the region of Brazil, and the Inca Mission.13 His method of starting the work was not the public preaching, but the sale of books, house by house, to detect individual interest in hearing the message.

Between 1916 and 1921 he worked intensely in Santa Fe, Argentina, with a special emphasis on the city of Rosario, which led to different evangelistic meetings in tents and rented buildings.

From 1921 to 1935 Ernst worked in Uruguay. He lived in Nueva Helvecia, and from there he extended his ministry by visiting different locations to form groups of interested people expanding the Adventist mission. Luis Ernst worked as a pastor until his retirement in 1938. He died on May 12, 1952.14

Sources

Ernst, Julio. “Río de la Plata, viaje al Alto Paraná” [River Plate, Trip to Alto Paraná]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], June 1910.

Ernst, Luis. “Alto Paraná” [Alto Paraná], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 1908.

———. “Alto Paraná: La reunión general” [Alto Paraná: General Meeting]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 1909.

———. “Del Alto Paraná” [From Alto Paraná]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 1907.

———. “En la Rep. de Uruguay” [In Uruguay Republic]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1952.

———. “Maravillosos son los caminos del Señor” [Wonderful Are the Ways of the Lord]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1907.

———. “Necrología” [Obituary]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], December 1916.

———. “Noticias de Paraguay” [Paraguay News]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1907.

Ernst, René. Ernst family genealogy. Available in the Document Archive (DF) of White Center Research, River Plate Adventist University, Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos, Argentina.

Greenleaf, Floyd. The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Latin America and the Caribbean. Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University Press, 1992. 2 vols.

“Nuestra escuela” [Our School]. La Carta Mensual [The Monthly Letter], December 1900.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del Adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries in South America: Pioneers of Adventism in Latin America]. 2nd ed. Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 2008.

Scholtus, Silvia. “Luis Federico Ernst.” In Daniel Plenc, Silvia Scholtus, Eugenio Di Dionisio, Sergio Becerra, Misioneros fundacionales del adventismo Sudamericano [Pioneer Missionaries of South American Adventism]. 3rd ed. Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 2016.

Thomann, Eduardo W. “La interesante historia del Colegio” [The Interesting History of the Academy]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], April 1908.

Wasiuk, Oscar N. Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7º Día en el Uruguay [Historical Review of the 7th Day Adventist Church in Uruguay]. Florida, Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1996.

Wensell, Egil. El poder de una esperanza que educa y sana [The Power of a Hope That Educates and Heals]. Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 1993.

Westphal, F. H. “Argentina.” ARH, August 10, 1897.

———. “Argentina and Uruguay.” ARH, February 9, 1897.

Westphal, Frank H. Hasta el fin del mundo [Until the End of the World]. Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 2016.

———. Pionero en Sudamérica [Pioneer in South America]. Trans. Silvia Scholtus de Roscher. Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: White Center Research, 1997.

Westphal, Joseph W. “Informes” [Reports]. Suplemento de La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review Supplement], February 1905.

———. “Sexta reunión bienal de la Conferencia Unión Sudamericana” [Sixth Biennial Meeting of the South American Division]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March-April 1916.

Notes

  1. A more detailed description on the early life of Luis Ernst can be found in Silvia Scholtus, “Luis Federico Ernst,” in Daniel Plenc, Silvia Scholtus, Eugenio Di Dionisio, Sergio Becerra, Misioneros fundacionales del adventismo Sudamericano [Pioneer Missionaries of South American Adventism], 3rd ed. (Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 2016), 117-137. See also: Daniel Oscar Plenc, Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del Adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries of South America: Pioneers of Adventism in Latin America], 2nd ed. (Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 2008), 53–62.↩

  2.  Julio Ernst (1877–1967), Luis’ younger brother, married María Köhli. Their children were Julia María, Guilermo, Laura Alicia, Clara Berenice, Inés Carlota, and Eduardo Enrique. Oscar N. Wasiuk, Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7º Día en el Uruguay [Historical Review of the 7th Day Adventist Church in Uruguay] (Florida, Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1996), 9, 10.↩

  3. Luis Ernst, “En la Rep. de Uruguay” [In Uruguay Republic], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1952, 5. See also Francisco H. Westphal, Pionero en Sudamérica [Pioneer in South America], trans. Silvia Scholtus de Roscher (Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: White Center Research), 36, 37.↩

  4. F. H. Westphal, “Argentina and Uruguay,” ARH, February 9, 1897, 89; F. H. Westphal, “Argentina,” ARH, August 10, 1897, 507; Wasiuk, 9, 10.↩

  5. Frank H. Westphal, Hasta el fin del mundo [Until the End of the World] (Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 2016), 36–40; Egil Wensell, El poder de una esperanza que educa y sana [The Power of a Hope That Educates and Heals] (Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: River Plate Adventist University Editorial, 1993), 61, 62.↩

  6. E. W. Thomann, “La interesante historia del Colegio” [The Interesting History of the Academy], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], April 1908, 28, 29; Floyd Greenleaf, The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Latin America and the Caribbean (Berrien Springs, Michigan: Andrews University Press, 1992), 1:51, 52.↩

  7. “Nuestra escuela” [Our School], La Carta Mensual [The Monthly Letter], December 1900.↩

  8. The information differs regarding the birth of Hulda. See Luis Ernst, “Necrología” [Obituary], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], December 1916, 15. These data appear in the register of descendants of Roberto Ernst and Lisette Kaspar, prepared by René Ernst, the last son of Luis Ernst. Available in the photo archives of the White Research Center, River Plate Adventist University, Entre Ríos, Argentina.↩

  9. Julio Ernst, “Río de la Plata, viaje al Alto Paraná” [River Plate, Trip to Alto Paraná], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], June 1910, 13.↩

  10. J. W. Westphal, “Informes” [Reports], Suplemento de La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review Supplement], February 1905, 4; Luis Ernst, “Noticias de Paraguay” [Paraguay News], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1907, 3; Luis Ernst, “Maravillosos son los caminos del Señor” [Wonderful Are the Ways of the Lord], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], August 1907, 6.↩

  11. Luis Ernst, “Del Alto Paraná” [From Alto Paraná], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 1907, 7.↩

  12. Luis Ernst, “Alto Paraná” [Alto Paraná], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], November 1908, 116; Luis Ernst, “Alto Paraná: La reunión general” [Alto Paraná: General Meeting], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], January 1909, 14.↩

  13. J. W. Westphal, “Sexta reunión bienal de la Conferencia Unión Sudamericana” [Sixth Biennial Meeting of the South American Division], Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March-April 1916, 9.↩

  14. His obituary is not recorded in Revista Adventista [Adventist Review]. The body of Luis Ernst was deposited in the cemetery of Las Piedras, Uruguay, along with those of his wife Emma and daughter María Julia. Emma's body was reduced and subsequently transferred to the cemetery of Colonia Suiza, Uruguay. These data were collected in an interview with Amaro Peverini, son-in-law of Luis Ernst, on November 1, 2010.↩

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Scholtus, Silvia C. "Ernst, Luis Federico (1874–1952)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 13, 2021. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGHX.

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Scholtus, Silvia C. "Ernst, Luis Federico (1874–1952)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 13, 2021. Date of access October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGHX.

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Scholtus, Silvia C. (2021, June 13). Ernst, Luis Federico (1874–1952). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGHX.

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