John F. Carrington (21 March 1914 – 24 December 1985[1]) was an English missionary and Bible translator who spent a large part of his life in the Belgian Congo.
[5][3] From 1951 to 1958 and from 1961 to 1964, he was director of the secondary schools and ministers' training college known as the Grenfell Institute in Yalemba.
In 1947, he gained his first doctorate from the University of London with a thesis on "A comparative study of some Central African gong languages", which later formed the basis of his book The Talking Drums of Africa.
[3] Carrington was later a professor of Botany, Ethnobotany and Linguistics (1965–1974), Dean of Students (1965–1968), and Vice-President for Academic Affairs (1968–1969) at Kisangani University.
In retirement, he undertook a second doctoral study in botany at Imperial College London on "Timber utilization by Upper Zairean craftsmen".
[3] In 1968, the Royal African Society awarded Carrington its Gold Medal and elected him as a fellow.
[7] The Zairean government made him a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Léopard.
Whenever Carrington made a mistake when translating or playing the drums, the African players would blame his white upbringing.
[12] In 1949, Carrington published a book, The Talking Drums of Africa, which describes his time spent with the Lokele people.