Jean de Brébeuf

Jean de BrébeufSJ (French:) (25 March 1593 – 16 March 1649) was a French Jesuitmissionary who travelled to New France (Canada) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Wendat (Huron) for the rest of his life, except for a few years in France from 1629 to 1633. He learned their language and customs, writing extensively about each to aid other missionaries.

In 1649, Brébeuf and another missionary were captured when a group of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) raided a Wendat village (referred to in French as Saint-Louis). Together with Wendat captives, the missionaries were ritually tortured and killed on 16 March 1649. Afterwards, his heart was eaten by Haudenosaunee tribesmen. Brébeuf was beatified in 1925 and with eight Jesuit missionaries was canonized in the Catholic Church in 1930.