Martti Rautanen

Martti Rautanen ( born November 10, 1845 in Tikopis, † October 19, 1926 in Olukonda ) was a Finnish missionary. In 1880 he was invited by Carl Hugo Hahn to Olukonda in present-day Namibia. He has translated the Bible into Oshivambo and is considered the founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia ( ELCIN ). In 1889 he built together with Karl August Weikkolin in Olukonda the first church in northern Namibia. 1893 was followed by a mission station. Both buildings still exist today and are among the national monuments in Namibia. Rautanen was married to Frieda Kleinschmidt, daughter of the German missionary Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt.

Rautanen and his family found in the cemetery of the village their final resting place. Many of the Ondonga kings are buried here.