Age, Biography and Wiki

John Groeber was born on 1903 in Zimbabwe, is a John Groeber was missionary who. Discover John Groeber's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 70 years old?

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Age 70 years old
Zodiac Sign
Born 1903
Birthday 1903
Birthplace N/A
Date of death 1973
Died Place N/A
Nationality Zimbabwe

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 1903. He is a member of famous missionary with the age 70 years old group.

John Groeber Height, Weight & Measurements

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Dating & Relationship status

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.

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John Groeber Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is John Groeber worth at the age of 70 years old? John Groeber’s income source is mostly from being a successful missionary. He is from Zimbabwe. We have estimated John Groeber's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
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Source of Income missionary

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Timeline

1903

John Groeber (1903 – 1973) was a missionary who founded the Serima mission station for the Swiss Bethlehem Mission in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

He is best known for designing and building St. Mary's church on the Serima Mission grounds, and for training a number of artists and builders.

Groeber was born in Basel, Switzerland to a family of bakers who were among the city's Catholic minority.

Groeber himself was religious from a young age, and attended Mass and other religious activities on a regular basis.

He was also a painter, largely self-taught.

Due to the family's limited resources, Groeber's education was cut short and he went to work as a draughtsman when he was sixteen.

In this work he learned the basics of both architecture and construction, and worked on such buildings as the Federal Charter Archive.

1920

By the late 1920s Groeber felt unfulfilled and was increasingly driven to join the priesthood.

Because he had been a poor student and had not completed high school, he joined the Swiss Bethlehem Mission (SBM) at Immensee.

1930

In 1930 he was able to matriculate, and began his studies at the SBM theological seminary.

After several years of seminary, Groeber enrolled at the Kunstgewerbeschule Lucerne, where he studied art for several years (although he did not get a degree as his superiors would not allow him to take the mandatory life drawing course).

1939

After being ordained, the SBM posted Groeber to Rhodesia in 1939.

During his early years in Rhodesia, he worked on a series of construction projects for the SBM.

1948

He asked his superiors to let him build and run his own mission with an arts-oriented school, and in 1948 was assigned a new, isolated mission station at Serima.

At Serima, Groeber was able to build up a congregation with more than a thousand local converts, while also mobilizing them to provide support and labor to develop the mission station.

A large complex, including a boarding school and church, were built over two decades, using bricks fired in a massive kiln.

Students with an aptitude for construction were given scholarships and worked in the afternoons.

1956

By 1956 the school was built, and Groeber moved on to the construction of St. Mary's Church.

This church combined the use of a modern architectural plan (inspired in part by the Federal Charter Archive) with African carving and artwork in the interior spaces.

All the Serima artists were trained from scratch by Groeber and his former pupil Cornelius Manguma.

These artists, plucked from mandatory art classes, worked in the afternoons, and were trained in drawing, patterning, pit firing, and woodcarving.

Once Groeber was satisfied with their technical abilities, they were assigned subjects to carve for the St. Mary's interior.

The students were expected to create their own designs, which were approved if they fit in with the overall iconography.

1958

The exterior of St. Mary's was completed in 1958, and the interior was completed in 1966.

Today it is considered to be one of Zimbabwe's architectural masterpieces, featuring a unique design combined with hundreds of carvings, murals, and ecclesiastical artworks that combine a coherent statement of Africanized Catholicism.

Groeber created a distinctive artistic style that made use of prescribed anatomical proportions, frontality, and Shona patterning.

1959

His most famous students were Joseph Ndandarika (who left Serima in 1959), Nicholas Mukomberanwa (left in 1960), and Cornelius Manguma (who taught art and carved much of the interior).

1970

In the early 1970s the Swiss Bethlehem Mission tried to preserve this tradition by posting Groeber and Manguma to Driefontein mission, where a carving school was established.

1972

This school opened in 1972 and still exists today.

Manguma, who remained the head of the school for over a quarter of a century, continued to use most of Groeber's methods.

His most famous student was Tapfuma Gutsa.

The school has produced a vast array of religious carvings for clients all over the world.