Damião (1536-1586)

Clergy of the Society of Jesus who worked in Japan. Born around 1536 in Chikunzen, he died in Shimonoseki on 29 December, 1586. He started collaborating with the missionaries in 1556, working in Hirado and in Hakata. In 1559, he accompanied Gaspar Vilela e Lourenço, participating in the founding of the mission at Miyako. He then became the first significant collaborator with Luís Frois who, in 1565, assumed leadership of the Miyako mission. He was admitted to the Society in 1567. He left briefly during the period the mission was led by father Francisco Cabral, reentering quickly and, in 1579, was in Funai (Oita), going to the Arima residence next. After that, Alexandre Valignano named him companion to the Vice Provincial, Gaspar Coelho, along with Luís Frois. He died of a sudden illness.

Bibliography: COSTA, João Paulo Oliveira e, O Cristianismo no Japão e o Episcopado de D. Luís de Cerqueira, dissertação de doutoramento em História apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, 1998 (texto fotocopiado).

Translated by: Maria João Pimentel