David Griffiths (20 December 1792 – 21 March 1863), was a Welsh Christian missionary and translator in Madagascar. He translated the Bible and other books into the Malagasy language. The Malagasy Bible of 1835 was among the first Bibles to be printed in an African language. Life and work David Griffiths was born on 20 December 1792 at Cwmhirbryd cottage and reared at nearby Glanmeilwch, Llangadog, Carmarthenshire, in south Wales. He was the son of William Griffith David and his wife Elizabeth. He became a member of the neighbouring Jerusalem Congregational church at Gwynfe in 1810 and soon after began to preach. He conducted a school of his own at Cwmaman in 1811–12. He entered the college at Neuaddlwyd 1812. He married Mary Griffiths in May 1820. In June 1820, he was sent to Madagascar by the London Missionary Society, as colleague of the Reverend David Jones, who had gone out two years previously. On 27 July he was ordained at Gwynfe and on 25 October sailed with his wife from London. They reached Mauritius on 23 January 1821 and soon afterwards proceeded to Madagascar. Griffiths and Jones founded the first Protestant mission in Madagascar. They preached twice every Sunday and established day and night schools, his wife teaching the girls. In 1824, the schools in the capital numbered 300 scholars, and there were 32 other schools within the country, all of which he visited weekly. Griffiths and Jones, with King Radama I devised a Roman-letter alphabet for Malagasy; in 1827 a printing press was obtained, and the following year a catechism, a hymnal, and some schoolbooks were published in Malagasy, and the printing of the Gospel of St. Luke was begun. In 1828 King Radama I of Madagascar, who had been a friend of the Christian missionaries, died at age 36. A period of confusion followed, and the mission's work was for a time interrupted. In 1830 night-schools, however, were opened for the lowest classes, and the work of the mission generally was continued with success. In 1831, the New Testament was published in Malagasy, and a large part of the Old Testament; the first Bible to be published in an African language. But in the same year the mission experienced many new difficulties. Although the Queen of Madagascar, Ranavalona I, was favourable to the work, her ministers were opposed to it, and the missionaries were ordered to leave.