Rafael Ferrer (b. at
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, in 1570; d. in 1610) was a Spanish
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionary and explorer.
Life
His first mission was to
Pasto in 1598, where he encountered the
Cofanis, and found them peaceful and receptive.
In 1599 was sent to
Quito
Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. He went on another expedition in 1604.
In 1606 he was made a master of novices in Quito. In 1608 he was permitted to begin another expedition, and returned to the Cofanis.
His death reportedly came at the hands of the Cofanis, who had been persecuted by colonisers since their first encounter with Father Ferrer, and blamed him for this. It was reported that whilst crossing a makeshift bridge of two logs high over a churning river, some members of the Cofani shook the logs, causing Ferrer to fall to his death. His body was never recovered.
[Cantillon (1938), p. 167]
An exaggerated and semi-fictional account of his life appears in ''
Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography'', which was then replicated in the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Rafael
1570 births
1610 deaths
16th-century Spanish Jesuits
Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries
Spanish explorers
Jesuit missionaries in Ecuador