TORRUBIA, JOSÉ

Franciscan missionary, historian, and natural scientist; b. Granada, Spain, 1698; d. Rome, 1761. Torrubia entered the Franciscan Order in 1714 and left for the missions in the Philippines in 1719. There his gifts as a careful observer and writer soon brought him posts of distinction both within and outside the order, as well as the jealousy of some friars. In 1733 he was sent to Spain to recruit friar missionaries, and he gathered 72. While these went to the islands, Torrubia stayed in Mexico because of charges made against him in Manila. By 1750 these charges had been heard and dismissed by the order, the Holy See, and the king. In 1752 he was named archivist and chronicler of the order, an appointment that superseded an earlier one (1738) as chronicler of the order for Asia. As archivist and chronicler, Torrubia continued the Chrónica begun by Damián Carnejo in 1682 and carried forward by Eusebio González de Torres. In 1756 Torrubia published the ninth part of this chronicle. It is generally considered by far the best part because of the abundant documentation and the critical spirit of the author. Unfortunately, the tenth part, which he said he was preparing in 1759, was never printed. In that year he did publish his very important I Moscoviti nella California o sia dimostrazione della veritá del passo all'America Settentrionale nuovamente scoperto dei Russi (Rome 1759). Besides some important studies on the internal history of the order in Spain, Torrubia published his Aparato para la historia natural española (Madrid 1754). A second volume of this valuable study was never published. He was commissary general of the order at the Holy See at the time of his death.

Bibliography: l. pÉrez, "Fray José Torrubia, procurador de la provincia de San Gregorio de Filipinas," Archivo Ibero-Americano 36 (1933) 321–364.

[l. g. canedo]