Kirchhofer, Melchior

Kirchhofer, Melchior a celebrated Swiss ecclesiastical writer, was born Jan. 3, 1775, at Schaffhausen, and was educated at Marburg. In 1797 he returned to Switzerland, and was ordained for the holy ministry. His first important position he secured in 1.808 at Stein, and this he filled up to his death, Feb. 13, 1853. He is quite celebrated for his able efforts in the department of Church History, which procured for him in 1840 the doctorate of theology from the University of Marburg. Among the especially valuable writings of Kirchhofer are his monographs on Hofmeister (1810), Oswald Myconius (1813), Werner Steiner (1818), Berthold Haller (1828), Wilhelm Farel (1831), and his continuation of Hottingers' Ecclesiastical History of Switzerland.-Herzog, Real-Encyklopadie, 7:708.