Krieghoff, Carlos Enrique (1870–1969)

By Daniel Oscar Plenc

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Daniel Oscar Plenc, Th.D. (River Plate Adventist University, Entre Ríos, Argentina), currently works as a theology professor and director of the White Research Center at the River Plate Adventist University. He worked as a district pastor for twelve years. He is married to Lissie Ziegler and has three children.

First Published: January 29, 2020

Carlos Enrique Krieghoff, was one of the first pastors in Chile, and a missionary and administrator in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.1

Born May 24, 1870 in Zürich, Switzerland, he emigrated to Chile with his family at the age of 15. Around 1885 three families that would play an important role in Adventism in Chile arrived in the country: the Thomanns, the Krieghoffs, and the Dessignets, the last ones being baptized in Europe. As far as it’s known, the first Adventists in Chile were the French immigrants Claudio Dessignet and Antoinette, who located in Traiguén. The Dessignets had accepted Adventism in Lyon, France, in 1880 through the influence of Pastor Daniel T. Bourdeau.

Carlos Krieghoff heard of the Adventist message through a childhood friend, Eduardo W. Thomann (1874-1955). Earlier Thomann had introduced him to the Presbyterian Church and now he shared his new discoveries. Giving him the book Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith in German, he told Carlos about the biblical doctrines presented in it. Krieghoff quit alcohol and smoking and accepted the Sabbath.

Baptized in 1897 at the age of 27 by Pastor Granville H. Baber (1852-1936), Carlos Krieghoff settled in Victoria, Chile, and married Ana Dessignet (1873-1967) in 1898, Her parents were Claude Dessignet and Antoinette S. de Dessignet.2 The Krieghoffs had seven children: Ana, Antonieta, Teresa, Carlos, Clara, Claudio, and Guillermo.3

Carlos E. Krieghoff and his wife were actively involved in the establishment of an Adventist school in Chile. First located in Púa, Malleco province, IX Región, it moved in 1922 to the farm “Las Mariposas” 12 kilometers away from Chillán and became Chile Adventist College (currently Chile Adventist University Academy). The Krieghoffs donated about 20 hectares of land to the school.4 He worked as a carpenter and builder of the first facility for a hundred students. The school began operating April 15, 1906, with Carlos as the director and teacher and with Ana as a girl’s dean.5

In 1908 the Chile Conference with its head office in Santiago designated Krieghoff as secretary and treasurer. Ordained in 1912, he again became president of the school until 1916, when he received a call to be the secretary and treasurer of the Argentina Conference. Between 1923 and 1930 he served as superintendent (president) of the Uruguay Mission, headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay Republic.6 Then he returned to Argentina as secretary and treasurer of the Central Argentine Conference, headquartered in Parana, Entre Rios. Retiring in 1937, Krieghoff lived in Rosario city, Santa Fe, Argentina, where he acted as elder of the central church for 12 years.

Ana Dessignet de Krieghoff died February 3, 1967, and Carlos E. Krieghoff July 13, 1969. Both of them were buried in Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos, Argentina.

Pastor Carlos E. Krieghoff is remembered as dedicated to the mission of the church, which he served with love and consecration in the southern countries of the South American Division.

Sources

Peverini, Héctor J. En las huellas de la Providencia [In the trace to Providence]. Florida, Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1988.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. “Entre el Pacífico y el Atlántico” [Between the Pacific and the Atlantic]. Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], June 2017.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar, 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: Editorial River Plate Adventist University, 2012.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. Tributo a la esperanza: la Iglesia de Colonia Pintos Viana [Tribute to hope: the Church of Colonia Pintos Viana], Rosario, Santa Fe: By the author, 2014.

Seventh-Day Adventist Encyclopedia. 2nd rev. ed. Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996.

Wasiuk, Oscar N. Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7° Día en el Uruguay [Historical review of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uruguay]. 1st ed. Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1996.

Westphal, F. H. “La Misión de la Costa Occidental” [The West Coast Mission]. La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], September 1906.

Westphal, F. H. “Noticia” [News]. La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1906.

Zambra Ríos, Leopoldo. No con ejército, no con fuerza, sino con su Espíritu [Not with army, not with force, but with his Spirit]. Santiago, Chile: Servicio Educacional Hogar y Salud [Home and Health Educational Service], 1994.

Notes

  1. See: Daniel Oscar Plenc, “Entre el Pacífico y el Atlántico” [Between the Pacific and the Atlantic], Revista adventista [Adventist Review], June 2017, 9; Daniel Oscar Plenc, Tributo a la esperanza: la Iglesia de Colonia Pintos Viana [Tribute to hope: the Church of Colonia Pintos Viana] (Rosario, Santa Fe: By the author, 2014), 140-142; Daniel Oscar Plenc, Silvia Scholtus, Eugenio Di Dionisio, and Sergio Becerra, Misioneros fundacionales del adventismo sudamericano [Pioneer missionaries of South American Adventism], 3rd ed. (Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos: Editorial River Plate Adventist University, 2012), 23-40; Seventh-Day Adventist Encyclopedia, 2nd rev. ed. (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 87.

  2. Héctor J. Peverini, En las huellas de la Providencia [In the trace of the Providence] (Florida, Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1988), 87, 88.

  3. Ana Dessignet was 12 years old when her parents emigrated to Chile. Born October 10, 1873, in Lyon, France, she died February 3, 1967.

  4. Leopoldo Zambra Ríos, No con ejército, no con fuerza, sino con su Espíritu [Not with army, not with force, but with his Spirit] (Santiago, Chile: Servicio Educacional Hogar y Salud [Home and Health Educational Service], 1994), 96-104.

  5. F. H. Westphal, “Noticia” [News], La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review], March 1906, 8; F. H. Westphal, “La Misión de la Costa Occidental” [The West Coast Mission], La Revista Adventista [Adventist Review] September 1906, 4, 5.

  6. Oscar N. Wasiuk, Reseña histórica de la Iglesia Adventista del 7° Día en el Uruguay [Historical review of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Uruguay], 1st ed. (Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 1996), 26, 27, 29.

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Plenc, Daniel Oscar. "Krieghoff, Carlos Enrique (1870–1969)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed February 12, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGK1.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. "Krieghoff, Carlos Enrique (1870–1969)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access February 12, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGK1.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar (2020, January 29). Krieghoff, Carlos Enrique (1870–1969). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 12, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FGK1.