Austrian missionary and writer (1717-1791)
Martin Dobrizhoffer
(7 September 1717 ? 17 July 1791) was an
Austrian
Roman Catholic
missionary
and writer.
Biography
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Dobrizhoffer was born in
Frymburk
(Friedberg),
Bohemia
. He joined the
Society of Jesus
in 1736, and in 1749 proceeded to
Paraguay
, where for eighteen years he worked devotedly first among the
Guaranis
, and then among the
Abipones
. Returning to
Europe
, on the expulsion of the Jesuits from
South America
, he settled at
Vienna
, obtained the friendship of
Maria Theresa
, survived the suppression of his order, and wrote the history of his mission. He died in Vienna in 1791.
Book
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The book on which his claim to fame rests, "An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay" was found in
Vienna
in 1784 in the author's own
Latin
, and in a
German
translation by Professor Kreil of the
University of Pest
. Of its contents some idea may be obtained from its extended title:
- Historia de Abiponibus, equestri bellicosaque Paraquariae natione, locupletata copiosis barbarorum gentium, urbium, fluminum, ferarum, amphibiorum, insectorum, serpentium praecipuorum, piscium, avium, arborum, plantarum aliarumque ejusdem provinciae proprietatum observationibus
The work, published in three volumes, London, 1822, there appeared in
London
, an anonymous English translation sometimes ascribed to
Southey
, but really the work of
Sara Coleridge
, who had undertaken the task to defray the college expenses of one of her brothers. A delicate compliment was paid to the translator by Southey in the third
canto
of his
A Tale of Paraguay
, the story of which was derived from the pages of Dobrizhoffer's narrative:
“
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And if he could in Merlin’s glass have seen
By whom his tomes to speak our tongue were taught,
The old man would have felt as pleased, I ween,
As when he won the ear of that great Empress Queen.”
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Southey
did, however, write a 36-page article about the topic in the January 1822 edition of the
Quarterly Review
, pp. 277?324.
Early map of Paraguay
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Published in
Vienna
, 1780, "Mappa Paraquariae", one of the most important early maps of the region, engraved by Franz Assner.
References
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External links
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