Arnold Damen (1815–1890) was a Dutch

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missionary who is noted for bringing Jesuit education to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Biography

Damen was born in Leur,

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

(The Netherlands) on March 20, 1815, and joined the Jesuit missions in North America under

Pierre-Jean De Smet Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ ( ; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19th ...

. He trained at St. Stanislaus Novitiate in

Florissant, Missouri Florissant () is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, within Greater St. Louis. It is a middle class, second-ring northern suburb of St. Louis. Based on the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 52,533, making it the 12 ...

, and was ordained in 1844. His first job was teaching at St. Louis University, but in 1847 he was appointed pastor of the college church of St. Francis Xavier in St. Louis. In 1857 he was sent to establish the first Jesuit presence in Chicago, where he founded St. Ignatius College Prep, as well as the institution that would become Loyola University. He died at

Creighton College Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergr ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, on January 1, 1890. He is the namesake of Damen Avenue in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damen, Arnold 1815 births 1890 deaths 19th-century Dutch Jesuits Jesuit missionaries in the United States Saint Louis University faculty University and college founders