François Bernardin Azaïs, known as Père Azaïs, (31 January 1870 – 6 April 1966) was a French

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 ...

and

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

. He has been called the "father of southern Ethiopian archeology." He was born in Saint-Pons de Thomière (AD34, registre 5 MI74/10 vue n°145 acte n° 20), in the French

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Capuchin friar The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, and shortly thereafter expressed his desire to work as a missionary. During his 30 years in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

(1897-1913 and 1922-1936), he conducted ten archeological expeditions in southern and eastern Ethiopia. Although only some of his findings were published (''Cinq années de recherches archéologiques en Éthiopie''), his unpublished research is stored at the Biblioteca Cappuccini in

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 ...

, at the headquarters of his order. He spent his later years as an ordinary brother in the Capuchin house at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, where he died on 6 April 1966 at the age of 96.

References

1870 births 1966 deaths People from Hérault French Roman Catholic missionaries Capuchins French archaeologists Archaeology of Ethiopia Roman Catholic missionaries in Ethiopia French expatriates in Ethiopia + {{RC-bio-stub

See also

References