Luis de Almeida (missionary)
Luis de Almeida | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1525 |
Died | 1597 |
Nationality | Portuguese |
Occupation(s) | Surgeon, Merchant and then Missionary of the Society of Jesus |
Life
Luis de Almeida was born in 1525 in Lisbon in a
In 1555, during his second visit to Japan, he joined the Society of Jesus and was now looking for ways to make good use of his accumulated financial resources. His personal wealth and his continued involvement in the Sino-Japanese silk trade kept the Jesuits financially afloat and provided the funds for various charitable efforts in Japan. For example, in the year of his accession he founded an orphanage in Funai (today Ōita) in the east of the island of Kyushu, because many children had lost their parents due to the fierce hegemonic struggles of the Sengoku period. However, because Almeida's commercial activities, the Jesuits in Japan attracted criticism from Rome for dabbling in trade.[4]
In 1556 he built a hospital in Funai with the permission of the
After 1560, Almeida had to give up leading the hospital since an order had arrived in Japan forbidding members of the Society from providing medical practices.
After years of tireless efforts in the Japanese mission, Almeida was ordained a priest in Macau in 1580. Upon returning to Japan, he was made Superior of Amakusa, which had become Christianized through his efforts.[1] He died three years later in Kawachiura (河内浦; now part of Amakusa). The hospital he built in Funai was destroyed in 1587 by troops from Satsuma.[6]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Yuuki 1990.
- ^ a b Hesselink 2015, p. 19.
- ^ Bowers 1970, p. 12.
- ^ Leitão 1993.
- ^ Michel 1993.
- ^ Michel 2001, p. 6.
Sources
- Bowers, John Z. (1970). Western medical pioneers in feudal Japan. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. OCLC 58748.
- Hesselink, Reinier H. (2015). The Dream of Christian Nagasaki: World Trade and the Clash of Cultures, 1560-1640. McFarland. ISBN 9780786499618.
- Leitão, Ana Maria (1993). "The Jesuits and the Japan Trade". Review of Culture. 17. Instituto cultural de Macau: 23–34.
- Michel, Wolfgang (1993). "Frühe westliche Beobachtungen zur Akupunktur und Moxibustion". In: Sudhoffs Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften. 77 (2): 194–222.
- ISBN 4784210806. pp. 3-17.
- Yuuki, Diego R. (1990). "Luís de Almeida: Doctor, Traveller And Priest". Review of Culture. 10. Instituto cultural de Macau: 7–26.