Azevedo, Luiz de
AZEVEDO, LUIZ DE
Missionary in India and Ethiopia; b. Carrazzedo, Montenegro, Portugal, 1573; d. Dambea, Ethiopia, Feb. 22, 1634. After entering the Society of Jesus (1588), he spent the first years of his priesthood in India (1592–1604), where he was successively master of novices at Goa and rector of the college at Thana. In 1605 he began his fruitful labors of 28 years as a missionary in Ethiopia, particularly among the Agaus, many of whom left the schismatic Church of Ethiopia for the Catholic church. Later, however, his converts were forced to return to schism, and his fellow missionaries were expelled from the country. Too infirm to accompany them, he remained and died in Ethiopia. To assist his fellow missionaries and to aid his converts, Azevedo prepared an Ethiopic grammar and translated into Ethiopic the New Testament, a catechism, and instructions on the Apostles' Creed. His letters were published in Lisbon (1609) and Lyons (1625).
Bibliography: c. sommervogel et al., Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, 11 v. (Brussels-Paris 1890–1932) 1: 735–737. Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 5:1352. h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae, 5 v. (3d ed. Innsbruck 1903–13) 3:800.
[l. f. hartman]