{{Short description|Namibian Lutheran Church leader}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific_prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|Revd}} | name = Leonard Auala | title = Bishop | image = Leonard-Auala-1967.jpg | alt = | caption = 1967 | church = Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = | term = 1963–1979 | predecessor = | successor = <!-- Orders --> | ordination = | ordinated_by = | consecration = | consecrated_by = | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = 25 September 1908 | birth_place = Iiyale, Oniipa, Ovamboland, German South West Africa<ref>''Kutsu Helsingin yliopiston teologisen tiedekunnan tohtoripromootioon marraskuun 2. päivänä 1967'', p. 32. Helsinki, 1967.</ref> | death_date = 4 December, 1983 | death_place = Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital,<ref>{{cite book | author=Ihamäki, Kirsti | title=Leonard Auala: Mustan Namibian paimen | location=Helsinki | publisher=Kirjaneliö | year=1985 | isbn=951-600-677-9 | pages=270–271}}</ref> South West Africa | previous_post = }} '''Leonard Nangolo Auala''' (25 September 1908, Iiyale, Oniipa, Ovamboland, German South West Africa – 4 December 1983, Onandjokwe, South West Africa<ref name=Register>{{cite book |title= Ondjokonona yaasita naateolohi muELCIN 1925–1992 |trans-title = ‘Register of ELCIN Clergy 1925–1992’ |last= Nambala |first= Shekutaamba V. V. |year= 1995 |publisher= ELCIN |location= Oniipa, Namibia |isbn= |pages= 58–59 }}</ref>) was a Namibian Lutheran Church leader.

==Early life== Auala was born in Oniipa, Ovamboland, German South West Africa. He was the son of Nakanyala Vilho yaAwala (Shihwa) waAmukwiyu and Nekwaya Loide yaShikongo shaNangolo dhaAmutenya.<ref name=Register />

Auala was raised partly by Lutheran missionaries from Finland.<ref>[https://www.namibian.com.na/bishop-auala-centenary/ Bishop Auala Centenary.] ''The Namibian'', 25 September, 2008.</ref> He went to primary school in Oniipa between 1919 and 1929, and between 1929 and 1931 he attended the local teacher training seminary there. During 1934–35, he studied at Augustineum, Okahandja, 1934–35, and he received theological training in Elim in 1942, when he was ordained a pastor. He received further theological training at the Moravian Theological Seminary in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, during 1956–57.<ref name=Register /><ref name=Founders>{{cite web | url = http://www.elcinorg.com/founders/ | title = Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) — Founders | date = 2021 | work = ELCIN home pages | publisher = ELCIN | accessdate = 4 September 2022 }}</ref>

==Career== Auala was consecrated a bishop in 1963 by visiting Bishop Eelis Gulin from Tampere, Finland, in connection of the Church General Synod, incorporating the Evangelical Lutheran Owambo-Kavango Church (ELOC) into the Swedish–Finnish line of apostolic succession.<ref name=Founders /><ref name="ELCIN2024">{{cite web |title=Eastern Diocese |url=https://www.elcinorg.com/eastern-diocese/ |publisher=Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia |access-date=15 April 2026 |date=2024}}</ref>

Auala was the first Namibian bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), a member of the Lutheran World Federation. He lived most of his life under South African rule. As a prominent religious leader for both the Ovambo people and other groups across Namibia, Auala met regularly with the South Africans to discuss issues like contract labour and other facets of apartheid.<ref>[http://dacb.org/stories/namibia/auala-leonard/ Leonard Auala] at the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.</ref> A member of the South West Africa People's Organization, he received threats and harassment from the South African occupiers.

==Personal life== Auala was married to Aina Aluhe yaSakeus from 1935 on. They had 10 children, six sons and four daughters.<ref name=Register />

== See also ==

* 1971-72 Namibian contract workers strike § Immediate Background

==References== {{reflist}}

{{start box}} {{succession box|title=Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia|years=1963–1979|before=Position created|after=Kleopas Dumeni}} {{end box}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auala, Leonard}} Category:1908 births Category:1983 deaths Category:People from Oshikoto Region Category:Namibian Lutheran clergy Category:20th-century Lutheran bishops Category:Ovambo people Category:Members of SWAPO Category:Lutheran bishops in Africa Category:Augustineum Secondary School alumni