Francisco Xavier Alegre (November 12, 1729 – August 16, 1788) was a
Jesuit scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...
,
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
of New Spain.
Life
Alegre was born in
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
,
New Spain. He studied philosophy in the Royal College of San Ignacio in
Puebla, then canon and civil law in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
and theology in Angelópolis. On March 19, 1747 he entered the novitiate with the
Company of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
(Jesuits) in Tepozotlán. According to his own account, he learned
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Náhuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
. He was able to preach in Náhuatl. He was a dedicated scholar of theology, history, mathematics, and especially
classical literature.
He later taught grammar in Mexico City, and during those years he learned
French. For reasons of health he returned to Veracruz, where he taught for two years. He then returned to Mexico City to take an examination in theology, and there he was ordained a priest.
His health was still poor. He was sent to
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , where he taught rhetoric and philosophy for seven years.
On leaving Havana, he went to
Mérida, to the Jesuit college there. He took over the work on the ''Historia de la provincia'' begun by Father Francisco de Florencia (1620–1695). He continued work on this history when he moved to the Royal College and Seminary of San Ildefonso in Mexico City. In less than three years, he finished the ''Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en Nueva España''. This work was on the point of being published when the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish dominions, on July 25, 1767. When he left New Spain, the manuscript and his sources remained behind.
Alegre died of apoplexy near
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, in 1788. Some of his works remained unpublished at his death.
Works
In exile, he established himself in Bologna, Italy, and there he rewrote his ''Historia'' from memory, in the form of a compendium. It was published in Mexico in 1841-1842. He also wrote 18 books, published together under the title ''Instituciones teológicas''.
His literary works included ''Alexandrias'', a short epic poem about the conquest of Tyre by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
(1775) and a Latin
eclogue
An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics.
Overview
The form of the word ''eclogue'' in contemporary English developed from Middle English , which came from Latin , wh ...
entitled ''Nysus''. He also published a Latin translation of the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
'', at Bologna in 1776 and, after revisions, at Rome in 1788. He translated the first three cantos of
Nicolas Boileau
Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to:
People Given name
* Nicolas (given name)
Mononym
* Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer
* Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer
Surname Nicolas
* Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
's ''L'Art poétique'' into Spanish.
He left quite a number of shorter works, mostly translations of classics. Among them are the "Alexandriadas" (1773,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
), the "
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
(
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, 1788), "Homeri Batrachiomachia" in Latin (Mexico, 1789), together with fragments of
Horace and a good translation into Spanish of the first three cantos of the "Art Poétique" of
Boileau.
But the work for which he is especially noted is his ''History of the Society of Jesus in New Spain'' (ed. Carlos María Bustamante, Mexico, 1841). Although composed at a time when the order was persecuted in Spanish colonies, and often with great rigor, the tone of this most valuable work, indispensable for the study of the colonial history of Mexico and of many of its Indian tribes, is, according to the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' "dignified and free from attacks upon Spain and the Spaniards".
He published ''Carta geográfica del hemisferio mexicano'', which introduced some information about New Spain previously unknown to European scholars.
In 1889, Joaquín García Icazbaleta published his lyrical works under the title ''Opúsculos inéditos latinos y castellanos del P. Francisco Xavier Alegre'' (''Unedited Latin and Spanish tracts of Father Francisco Xavier Alegre''). His Latin writing style was pure and classical, comparing well with theologians of the Renaissance.
References
*Alegre, Francisco Javier, ''Historia de la Provincia de la Compañía de Jesús de Nueva España,'' 5 vols, edition and notes by Ernest J. Burrus and Félix Zubillaga. 1956.
*"Alegre, Francisco Javier", ''Enciclopedia de México'', v. 1. Mexico City, 1987.
*González Peña, Carlos, ''Historia de la literature mexicana''. 1928.
*Méndez Plancarte, Gabriel, ''Humanistas del siglo XVIII''. 1941
Further reading
* Alva Rodríguez, Inmaculada. (2011). “Francisco Javier Alegre (1729-1788): una aproximación a su obra teológica.” ''Anuario de Estudios Americanos'' 68(1): 283–314. http://estudiosamericanos.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosamericanos/article/view/540/544/.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alegre, Francisco Javier
1729 births
1788 deaths
Mexican Jesuits
Colonial Mexico
18th-century Mexican historians
Mexican translators
People of New Spain
Historians of Baja California
Translators of Homer
Jesuits expelled from the Americas