Étienne de la Croix SJ (Diocese of Évreux, 1579–1643), was a French

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to India and author of a life of St Peter in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: ' (Goa, 1629).

Biography

De la Croix entered the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in 1599, and arrived in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1602. He succeeded the English Jesuit Thomas Stephens as Rector of the College at

Rachol Rachol is a village within an Ilha de Rachol, island of the same name in Salcete, Goa, in south-western India. It is located on the left bank of the Zuari River and is home to the famous Rachol Seminary. The famous Portuguese colonial Rachol F ...

. He seems to have made a study of the Hindu Puranas and religious beliefs. A list of references given in his works shows that he used at least 26 Hindu ''puranas'' in the composition of his own ''purana''. His ''Peter Purana'', as it is popularly known, consisted of 12,000 ''ovis'' (verses) in a

that contained a significant number of Konkani words and expressions. He also wrote in

Konkani language Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of ...

, though none of these works survive, according to Alexandre Rhodes, writing in 1621.cited by Saradesaya 49-50. Pereira 90. In contrast to Thomas Stephens'

Krista Purana ''Krista Purana'' (; Devanagari: क्रिस्त पुराण, "The Christian Puranas") is an epic poem on the life of Jesus Christ written in a mix of Marathi and Konkani by Fr.Thomas Stephens, S.J. (1549–1619). Adopting the liter ...

, the ''Peter Purana'' is far more polemical.

References

Bibliography

*''Discursos sobre a vida do Apostolo Sam Pedro em que se refuta os principaes erros do gentilismo deste oriente: e se declarao varios misterios da nossa santa Fe: com varia Doutrina Vtil e necessaria a esta noua Christandade. Compostos em versos em lingoa Bramana Marasta pelo Padre Estevao da Cruz da Com., Frances. Empressos em Goa na Casa Professa de Jesus com licenca da Sancta Inquisicao e ordinario e dos superiores. Anno de nascimento de Christo Senhor Nosso de 1634''. Goa, 1629-1634. 2 vols. in folio. Vol 1: 10 preliminary leaves - 358 numbered leaves of text. Vol. 2: 283 leaves. Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon: complete. Central Library, Panjim, Goa: defective and incomplete. Microfilm available with Marathi Samshodhan Mandala, Mumbai 400 005.

Secondary

* Priolkar, A.K. "French Author of a Marathi Purana, Fr Etienne de la Croix." ''Journal of the University of Bombay'' n.s. 29/2 (1959) 122-149. *Priolkar, A.K. ''Goa Re-discovered''. Bhakta Books International, 1967. *Priolkar, A.K. ''The printing press in India: its beginnings and early development, being a quatercentenary commemoration study of the advent of printing in India in 1556.'' Bombay: Marathi Samshodhana Mandala, 1958. *Meyer, Christian and Felix Girke. ''The Rhetorical Emergence of Culture.'' Berghahn Books, 2011. *Saradesaya, Manohara. ''A History of Konkani Literature: From 1500 to 1992.'' New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2000. See esp. pp. 49ff. *Pereira, Antonio. ''The makers of Konkani literature.'' A. Pereira, 1982. *Thekkedath, Joseph. ''History of Christianity in India: From the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century, 1542-1700.'' Volume 2 of History of Christianity in India. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, for the Church History Association of India, 1982. *''Boletim do Instituto Vasco da Gama'' 30 (1936) 72-74. *''Boletim do Instituto Vasco da Gama'' 32 (1936) 57-60. *''Boletim do Instituto Vasco da Gama'' 37 (1938) 121. {{DEFAULTSORT:La Croix, Etienne De 1579 births 1643 deaths 17th-century Indian Jesuits 17th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in India French expatriates in India Jesuit missionaries