José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo, SJ was a Canarian Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's history in the first century after its European discovery, Anchieta was one of the founders of São Paulo in 1554 and of Rio de Janeiro in 1565. He is the first playwright, the first grammarian and the first poet born in the Canary Islands, and is considered the father of Brazilian literature.
José de Anchieta, by painter Benedito Calixto
House of José de Anchieta in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife)
Portrait by Oscar Pereira da Silva
Anchieta in an 1807 engraving
The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits, is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue.
Ignatius of Loyola
A fresco depicting Ignatius receiving the papal bull from Pope Paul III was created after 1743 by Johann Christoph Handke in the Church of Our Lady Of the Snow in Olomouc.
Jesuits at Akbar's court in India, c. 1605
Ratio Studiorum, 1598