Father Sebastian Englert OFM Cap., (November 17, 1888 – January 8, 1969) was a Capuchin

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

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and ethnologist from

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. He is known for his pioneering work on

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, where the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum is named after him.

Early life in Bavaria

Born Anton Franz Englert in Dillingen,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Father Sebastian spent his school days in Eichstätt and Burghausen. In 1907, he entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the ...

and received the religious name Sebastian. He undertook his canonical studies in philosophy and theology in the Capuchin studium of Dillingen, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1912. During the

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, Father Sebastian served as a chaplain in the German Army in

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and

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, and after the war he worked for five years as a parish priest in the Schwabing district of

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. In 1922, he went at his own request as a missionary to the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

at Villarrica and Pucón in Southern Chile.

Missionary and scientific activity in Chile

Father Sebastian served in the

Apostolic Vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of the Araucanía in Villarrica and Pucón, which at the time was administered almost entirely by Capuchins. There, in addition to his pastoral duties, he conducted ethnological and linguistic research into Mapuche culture and the Mapudungun language. From 1934 to 1938, he published studies in Araucanian literature, ethnology and folklore. During this period, his

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

studies included an investigation of the relationship of Quechua and Aymara to the Mapuche language.

Rapa Nui

From 1935 for more than 30 years until his death, Father Sebastian worked as a missionary priest on

Rapa Nui Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

(

). At the time, he was perhaps the only non-Rapa Nui to have mastered their language. Although he celebrated

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, he preached, heard confessions and catechized the faithful in the Rapa Nui language. He also translated popular

Catholic devotions Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church, described as "expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersec ...

into Rapa Nui and encouraged native religious song. In 1964, he produced a history of the early activity of the French Sacred Hearts missionaries who first evangelized the island. Given the isolation of Rapa Nui during the period before air travel, Father Sebastian researched the language, ethnology and anthropology of Easter Island. His knowledge of Rapa Nui culture and prehistory impressed the scientific staff of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition of 1955. William Mulloy, a member of that expedition, writes:William Mulloy. 1969. "Sebastian Englert 1888-1969." ''American Anthropologist'' 71:1110. :"I retain a sharp memory of a day shortly after our arrival, when he was asked to summarize his views of the local prehistory in a lecture to the expedition archaeologists. He presented a beautifully organized exposition based largely on his interpretations of painstakingly collected local genealogies and traditions. I wrote down everything I could..." Father Sebastian published several books, the most important being ''La tierra de Hotu Matu'a'' (The Land of Hotu Matu'a) a 1948 study of the history, archaeology, anthropology, and language of Easter Island. He described numerous "

- Rapa Nui

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

s". Among these are the Mapuche/Rapa Nui words ''toki''/''toki'' (axe), ''kuri''/''uri'' (black) and ''piti''/''iti'' (little). His research is best known to English-speakers through radio broadcasts for Chilean naval personnel in

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, published in the United States as ''Island at the Center of the World: New Light on Easter Island''. Father Sebastian arrived intending to stay only a short time on the island, but in February 1936 he received a letter, via a visiting ship of the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

, from his superior, Bishop Edwards, asking him to stay for two months more, which he did. However, it was almost a year until the next ship arrived, in January 1937. In that time he had revitalized the island's church, and had himself become attached to the island. The ship carried another letter from Bishop Edwards, appointing Father Sebastian as priest of Easter Island by attaching it to the "Apostolic Vicariate of Araucania". He was "strict, authoritarian and patriarchal" with the islanders, supported the Chilean authorities in making it difficult for islanders to travel, and publicly censured churchgoers in his sermons, based on information they gave him when privately confessing their sins, adversely affecting their ability to work and to buy imported goods, both of which were controlled by the state-backed island company. In historian Steven Roger Fischer's view, this may have contributed to the failure of the islanders to "internalize Catholicism fully during those crucial development years." Because of his work for the island's people, especially its

lepers Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

, leader of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition, called Father Sebastian the "uncrowned king of Easter Island."Thor Heyerdahl. 1960. ''Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island''. Cardinal Giant edn. New York: Pocket Books. In 1963, Fr. Sebastian was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) First Class by the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. He died in

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in 1969 during a lecture tour of the

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. His remains were returned to Rapa Nui and interred in the cemetery in the Tahai district, but were later transferred to the site of Holy Cross Church in Hanga Roa. In his will, he left all his books, his writings and his collection of native artifacts to the Government of Chile with the intention of forming a museum, but it wasn't until 1994 that the Father Sebastian Englert Anthropological Museum (MAPSE) was opened under the Chilean Directorate of Libraries, Archives and Museums (DiBAM). His papers, along with those of other researchers in Rapanui culture, are in the Biblioteca William Mulloy, which is administered by MAPSE.

Publications

* Englert, S. 2004. ''La tierra de Hotu Matu'a: historia y etnología de la Isla de Pascua: gramática y diccionario del antiguo idioma de Isla de Pascua.'' 9th ed. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria. * Englert, S. 1980. ''Leyendas de Isla de Pascua: textos bilingües.'' Santiago de Chile: Ediciones de la Universidad de Chile. * Englert, S. 1978. ''Idioma rapanui: gramática y diccionario del antiguo idioma de la Isla de Pascua.'' Santiago de Chile: Universidad de Chile. * Englert, S. 1977. ''Diccionario Rapanui-Español.'' New York: AMS Press. * Englert, S. 1970. ''Island at the Center of the World; New Light on Easter Island.'' Translated and edited by William Mulloy. New York: Scribner. * Englert, S. 1964. ''Primer siglo cristiano de la Isla de Pascua, 1864-1964.'' Villarrica, Chile: Escuela Lito-Tipográfica Salesiana “La Gratitud Nacional”. * Englert, S. 1938. ''Diccionario Rapanui-Español redactado en la Isla de Pascua, por p. Sebastián Englert, Mis. Cap.'' Santiago de Chile: Prensas de la Universidad de Chile. * Englert, S., and M. Buschkühl. 1988. ''Missionsgeschichte der Osterinsel: Pater Sebastian Englert O.F.M.Cap. (1888-1969) zum 100. Geburtstag.'' Ausstellung, Dezember 1988-März 1989. Eichstätt: Universitätsbibliothek.

References

External links