John Kitto (1804-1854), scholar
John Kitto (1804-1854) was a British scholar.
Biography
John Kitto was born in Plymouth, England. He had a difficult childhood in the workhouse, marked by illness and poverty. At twelve, an accident left him totally and permanently deaf, and with an impaired sense of balance. He rescued himself through hard work and study. Having recognized his intellectual potential, Anthony Norris Groves took him in his pioneering mission to Baghdad in 1829. Traveling extensively in the Middle East, Kitto applied his observations to the study of the Bible. His articles in the Penny Magazine were an instant success in England and were reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Kitto became a popular author of books in Biblical history and geography. He died on November 25, 1854 at Cannstatt, Germany.