Joseph Cassani (also spelt Casani, 26 November 1673 – 1750) was a Spanish Catholic historian. Cassani was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1673, entered the Society of Jesus on 16 November 1686, was still in active service of priestly functions in 1745, and died in 1750. He was one of the founders of the ''Academia de la Lengua española'' (Academy of the Spanish Language) at Madrid, and published a ''Diccionario de la Lengua Catellana'' (Catalan dictionary) there in 1726–1730, in six volumes. He was a very prolific writer. Among his works may be noted ''Admirable vida, singulares virtudes etc. del extçtico Varon P. Dionisio Rickel'' (Madrid, 1738), and ''Varones ilustres de la Compañia de Jesus Escual militar de fortificacion Tratado de la naturaleza y orígen de los cometas'' (Madrid, 1737). He was a member of the Academia from 6 July 1713. Although he never visited America, he appealed particularly to Americans through his ''Historia de la Provincia de la Compañia de Jesus del Nueva Reyno de Granada en la América'' (Madrid, 1741), the only regular chronicle of the

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

Order in Colombia thus far extant. (Note: Cassani wrote the "Historia" in Venezuela.) The fact that Cassani was never in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

detracts somewhat from the usefulness of this otherwise valuable history, as far as ethnologic and ethnographic data are concerned; but it does include data on the missions in the upper

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

basin. The work is exceedingly rare.

Sources

* *Sommervogel-de Backer, Bibl. des éscriv. de la c. de J. *Diccionario Hispano-americano *Salvç; Catçlogo de la Biblioteca de Salvç (Valencia, 1874) *Acosta, Compendia hist. del Descub. y Coloniz., de la Nueva Granada (Paris, 1848) *Brinton, The American Race (New York, 1891) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassani, Joseph 18th-century Spanish historians 17th-century Spanish Jesuits Writers from Madrid 1673 births 1750 deaths 18th-century Spanish Jesuits