Emmanuel-Henri-Dieudonné Domenech (4 November 1825 – 7 September 1903) was a French ''

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

'',

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

and author.

Life

Domenech was born at

Rochetaillée-sur-Saône Rochetaillée-sur-Saône (, "Rochetaillée-on-Saône"; Arpitan: ''Rochetalyê'') or simply Rochetaillée is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central-eastern France. It is a northern suburb of Lyon, on ...

(near

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

), France. In the spring of 1846, before completing his seminary studies and when not yet twenty years of age, he left France in response to an urgent appeal for missionaries to help develop the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the wilds of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, then rapidly filling up with American and European immigration. He went first to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, where he spent two years completing his theological course, studying English and German, and gathering knowledge of missionary requirements. In May 1848, he was assigned to duty at the new German settlement of Castroville in Texas. In 1850 he visited Europe and was received by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, who personally paid for his return to Texas. Once in Texas again, he was transferred by Bishop Odin to Brownsville, arriving in May 1851. The

war with Mexico War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organize ...

was just concluded; raiding bands of Mexicans and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

were ravaging on both sides of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, while outlaws from the border States and almost equally lawless discharged soldiers filled the new towns, and hostile Indians hovered constantly in the background. A

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic added its horrors. Nevertheless, he went to work in Southern Texas. He continued in the mission field until September 1852, when he returned to France with health broken and was appointed titulary canon of

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. When the French troops were dispatched to Mexico in 1861 he was selected to accompany the expedition as almoner to the army and chaplain to the Emperor Maximilian. After returning to France, he devoted his remaining years to European travel, study, and writing, and the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions. In 1882–83 he again visited America.

Works

Among numerous works dealing with travel, history, and theology, are: * (Paris, 1857) * (Paris, 1858) * (Paris, 1860) This work was the result of an unintentional hoax. The German orientalist declared that the manuscript consisted only of scribbling and incoherent illustrations in a local German dialect. Domenech maintained the authenticity of the manuscript in a pamphlet entitled (1861), which drew forth a reply from Petzholdt, translated into French (by Philippe Van der Haeghen) under the title of (Brussels, 1861). * (1860) * (1864) * (1865) * (1867) * * (Paris, 1868) The historical accuracy of this work has been questioned by several writers, including

General Prim Juan Prim y Prats, 1st Count of Reus, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos, 1st Viscount of Bruch (; ; 6 December 1814 – 30 December 1870) was a Spanish general and statesman who was briefly Prime Minister of Spain until his assassination. Bio ...

. * (1869) * (1871) * (1883) * (Paris, 1884) His principal works have appeared also in English translation.

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
''Handbook of Texas Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domenech, Emmanuel 1826 births 1903 deaths French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States 19th-century French historians French male non-fiction writers French expatriates in the United States