Techo, Nicolás del
TECHO, NICOLÁS DEL
Missionary and historian of Paraguay; b. Lille, France, Nov. 28, 1611; d. in the Reduction of Apóstoles (Paraguay), Aug. 20, 1685. He entered the Society of Jesus on Jan. 10, 1630, and arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of 1640 as a member of the expedition of Father Díaz Taño. From 1645 until his death he served in the Guaraní missions, sometimes as general superior. The only exceptions occurred during 1671, when he was teacher of novices in Córdoba, and between 1677 and 1680 when he was rector at Asunción. He wrote the Historia provinciae paraguariae Societaties Jesu (Leija 1673) and Decades virorum illustrium paraguariae Societatis Jesu (Tyrnau 1759). This second work (only two copies are extant) includes 90 biographies of Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay. Of these Techo wrote 50; the rest were written by Nicolás Schmid from the notes of Ladislao Orosz.
Bibliography: e. cardozo, Historiografía paraguaya (Mexico City 1959–) 1:271–285.
[h. storni]