Martin Dobrizhoffer

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Martin Dobrizhoffer (7 September 1717 – 17 July 1791) was an Austrian Roman Catholic missionary and writer.

Biography

Dobrizhoffer was born in

, survived the suppression of his order, and wrote the history of his mission. He died in Vienna in 1791.

Book

The book on which his claim to fame rests, "An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay" was found in

. 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:

“	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.”

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

Published in Vienna, 1780, "Mappa Paraquariae", one of the most important early maps of the region, engraved by Franz Assner.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dobrizhoffer, Martin". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Works by Martin Dobrizhoffer at Project Gutenberg