Father Kino, Pioneer Jesuit

Today marks the death of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino (1644-1711), Jesuit missionary in northwest Mexico and the American Southwest. Born in northern Italy, at age twenty he joined the Jesuits, where he proved himself a capable mathematician, cartographer, and astronomer. His work as a missionary began when he was assigned to Mexico. He arrived in Mexico City in 1681. After an abortive mission to Baja California, he began his longtime mission to the Pima Indians in Pimeria Alta, a district comprising present-day southern Arizona and northwest Mexico. Father Kino was also a writer, authoring books on religion, astronomy and maps. He has been honored both in Mexico and the United States, with various towns, streets, monuments, and geographic features named after him. In 1965, a statue of him was donated to the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall collection, one of two statues representing Arizona.