José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo, SJ (19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597), known in English as Joseph of Anchieta, was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. He is widely referred to as the "Apostle of Brazil."
Early Life and Education
Anchieta was born on 19 March 1534 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, into a wealthy family. Through his father, Juan López de Anchieta, he was related to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. At age 14, he was sent to study at the Royal College of Arts in Coimbra, Portugal. He entered the Jesuit novitiate on 1 May 1551 at age 17. During his novitiate, he developed a spinal condition (scoliosis) due to excessive austerity, which left him with a visible curvature of the back.
Missionary Work in Brazil
In 1553, Anchieta was sent to Brazil as part of the third Jesuit expedition, arriving in São Vicente. In late 1553, he and 12 other Jesuits, under the direction of Manuel da Nóbrega, climbed the Serra do Mar to a plateau along the Tietê River. There, on 25 January 1554, they celebrated Mass and established a settlement that became the city of São Paulo. Anchieta also participated in the founding of Rio de Janeiro in 1565 alongside Estácio de Sá.
Anchieta learned the Old Tupi language spoken by the indigenous peoples along the Brazilian coast and authored the first grammar of that language, Arte de gramática da língua mais usada na costa do Brasil (1595), providing the first orthography for Old Tupi. He served as a mediator between Portuguese colonial authorities and indigenous groups, notably acting as a voluntary hostage among the Tamoyo people during peace negotiations in 1563. During this captivity, he is said to have composed a lengthy poem to the Virgin Mary (De Beata Virgine Dei Matre) of approximately 4,900 verses, writing them in the sand and memorizing them due to the lack of paper.
Literary and Scholarly Contributions
Anchieta is considered the father of Brazilian literature. He wrote poetry, religious plays (autos), and historical works in Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, and Tupi. His dramas were performed by local amateurs in village squares for catechetical purposes. He also authored De Gestis Mendi de Saa, a Latin epic poem about Governor-General Mem de Sá, considered the first epic about the Americas. His letters and reports serve as important ethnographic and historical sources on 16th-century Brazil.
Ecclesiastical Roles and Later Life
Anchieta was ordained a priest in 1566 by Bishop Pedro Leitão. He served as rector of the Jesuit College of São Vicente and, from 1577 to 1587, as the fifth provincial superior of the Society of Jesus in Brazil. He died on 9 June 1597 at Reritiba (now the city of Anchieta), Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Veneration and Canonization
Anchieta was declared Venerable in 1736, beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 June 1980, and canonized by Pope Francis on 3 April 2014 through equivalent canonization. He is the second native of the Canary Islands to be declared a saint, after Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur, and is considered the third saint of Brazil. In April 2015, the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil declared him a co-patron of Brazil. His feast day is 9 June.
