Constantine Joseph Beschi (8 November 1680 – 4 February 1747), also known under his

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

name of ''Vīramāmunivar'', was an Italian

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

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, missionary in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

, and Tamil language littérateur.

Early years

Born in

Castiglione delle Stiviere Castiglione delle Stiviere ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy, northwest of Mantua by road. History The town's castle was home to a cadet branch of the House of Gonzaga, headed by the ...

, in the district of Mantua, in

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 ...

, on 8 November 1680, Beschi got his secondary education in the Jesuits' High School at

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, which taught rhetoric, humanities and grammar. After becoming a Jesuit in 1698, he was trained in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the c ...

and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= 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 150 different na ...

, studying philosophy for three years from 1701–1703 in Bologna, and theology for four years from 1706–1710. His studies also included

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. He was ordained as a priest in 1709. On hearing about the work done in India by the

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

returning to Italy from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, Beschi was eager to come to India. He requested and obtained permission from

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

Michelangelo Tamburini Michelangelo Tamburini (27 September 1648 – 28 February 1730) was an Italian Jesuit, who was elected fourteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the ...

to be sent to the Jesuit mission at Madurai in South India. Sailing from

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

he reached Goa in October 1710, from where he proceeded immediately to South India. He arrived in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

in May 1711.

In South India

Inspired by what was done in China, Beschi adopted the native Tamilians' lifestyle in his life and in his missionary work. For example, he adopted the

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...

coloured robe generally worn by a ''

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

'' (Indian ascetic). He visited several important centres such as

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tam ...

, Ramanathapuram,

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

and, of course, Madurai to learn the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory o ...

. He also studied

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

. He met with persecution in 1714–15 and escaped a death sentence. This gave him more time to master the Tamil language in which he soon showed great proficiency. Because of his boldness in defending the correctness of his convictions, he was fondly called ''Dhairiyanathar'' (The Fearless Guru). During the first six years, he worked as a missionary in Elakurichy, a town near Tiruvaiyaru,

Ariyalur Ariyalur () is a town and district headquarters of Ariyalur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is rich in limestone, surrounded with seven cement factories and two sugar factories. The town is located at a distance of from th ...

district. Then he served as parish priest in Kamanayakkanpatti, one of the oldest Christian community in Tamil Nadu. He worked in the Thanjavur area till 1738 and settled in 1740 on the

Coromandel coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

where he remained till the end of his life. He helped build the Poondi Matha Basilica at Poondi near Thanjavur, Vyagula Matha Church at Thanjavur, The Perianayagi Madha Shrine, Konankuppam at Mugasaparur in Konankuppam, and Adaikala Maadha Shrine at Elakurichi. These churches are now Catholic pilgrim centres. He died at Ambalakaadu in Thrissur,

Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy wa ...

(now a part of the state of Kerala), and is buried at St. Francis Xavier's Church, Sampaloor, where his tomb can be seen.

Robert Caldwell Robert Caldwell (7 May 1814 – 28 August 1891) was a missionary for London Missionary Society. He arrived in India at age 24, studied the local language to spread the word of Bible in a vernacular language, studies that led him to author a tex ...

, one of the eminent Tamil linguists and historians, in his book 'A Political and General History of Tinnevelly (Tirunelveli) in the Presidency of Madras: From the Earliest Period to the Cession to the English Government in AD 1801' opines that, based on the writings of his biographer and the letters written to Europe at the same time, "It is certain from authentic records that Beschi was "Rector" of Manapar (present Manapad) in 1744 and that he died there in 1746. This was in the 66th year of his age and the 40th of his residence in India. It is very probable that Manapar was the first place in the Tamil country where Beschi resided after he left Goa, in consequence of which he might naturally wish to end his days there." He, in the same book (page 243) further states that his body was laid in rest in the oldest church of Manapad which has been now completely buried in the sand.

Contribution to Tamil literature

Constantine compiled the first Tamil lexicon - a Tamil-Latin dictionary. He also compiled the comprehensive ''Chaturakarati'' (சதுரகராதி), a quadruple lexicon containing words, synonyms, and categories of words and rhymes. Beschi also composed two other Tamil grammars and three dictionaries, covering Tamil-Latin, Tamil-Portuguese and Tamil-Tamil. He translated and explained in Latin the "

Thirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

", an epic poem of

Thiruvalluvar Thiruvalluvar (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர்), commonly known as Valluvar, was a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and ...

. This Latin work was an eye opener for European intellectuals, enabling them to discover truth and beauty in Tamil literature. He also translated into European languages several other important Tamil literary works such as ''Devaaram'' (தேவாரம்), ''Thiruppugazh'' (திருப்புகழ்), ''Nannool'' (நன்னூல்) and ''Aaththichoodi'' (ஆத்திசூடி). Besides composing literary Tamil Grammar work, he also wrote a grammar for the common use of Tamil (Urai nadai illakkiyam - உரை நடை இலக்கியம்), which at times led to him being referred to as the 'Father of Tamil Prose'. Earlier Tamil scripts were written without the tittle (புள்ளி) for consonants, and the symbol ர was used to indicate long vowels. It was Veeramamunivar who introduced the system of dotting the Tamil consonants (க், ங், ச், ... ) and writing the long vowels as ஆ instead of அர, கா instead of கர, etc. His biggest poetical work is the ''

Thembavani ''Thembavani'' ( ta, தேம்பாவணி; ) is a Tamil classic poetical work by Veeramamunivar ( Costanzo Beschi) on the life of St. Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ. It is divided into thirty-six ''cantos'', containing 3,615 ...

'' (தேம்பாவணி - The Unfading Garland - an ornament of poems as sweet as honey), 3615 stanzas long on

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

history and the life of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

. It was presented for ratification as a classic in the Academy of Poets and received their approval and the poet was given the title Veeramanunivar (The Courageous Ascetic) He also wrote a ''prabandham'' (a ''minor'' literature) called ''Kaavalur Kalambagam'' (காவலூர் கலம்பகம்), a grammatical treatise called ''Thonnool'' (தொன்னூல்), a guide book for catechists with the title ''Vedhiyar Ozukkam'' (வேதியர் ஒழுக்கம்), and ''Paramarthaguruvin Kadhai'' (பரமார்த்த குருவின் கதை - ''The Adventures of Guru Paramartha''), a satirical piece on a naive religious teacher and his equally obtuse disciples. His prose works include polemical writings against the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

missionaries and didactic religious books for the instruction of Catholics.

Recognition

In 1968, the State of Tamil Nadu erected a statue for Beschi on the Marina beach in the city of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

as a recognition for his contribution to Tamil language and literature. A tablet was installed in his native place Castiglione delle Stiviere in 1980 to mark the 300th birth anniversary of Beschi. In it, it is mentioned that Beschi is called the

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

of the Tamil language. The fifth world Tamil Congress held at

in January 1981 erected his statue in the city of Madras.

References

* Giachi, G.: ''L'India divenna la sua terra'', Milan. 1981. * Sorrentino, A:: ''L'altra perla dell'India'', Bologna, 1980.

Early years

In South India

Contribution to Tamil literature

Recognition

See also

References

Further reading