Feastday: June 9
Patron: Catechists, of those who suffer scoliosis and compatrono of Brazil
Birth: March 19, 1534
Death: June 9, 1597
Beatified: June 22, 1980, Saint Peter's Square, Rome, by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: April 3, 2014, Vatican City, by Pope Francis
José de Anchieta (March 19, 1534 - June 9, 1597) was a Canarian Jesuit missionary to Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's history in the 1st century after its discovery on April 22, 1500 by a Portuguese fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral, Anchieta was one of the founders of Săo Paulo, in 1554, and Rio de Janeiro, in 1565. He was a writer and poet, and is considered the first Brazilian writer. Anchieta was also involved in the catechesis and conversion to the Catholic faith of the Indian population; his efforts at Indian pacification, together with another Jesuit missionary, Manuel da Nóbrega, were crucial to the establishment of stable colonial settlements in the new country.
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