author
Francesco Giuseppe Bressani
1612–1672
An Italian Jesuit missionary in New France, he left behind one of the vivid firsthand accounts of 17th-century Canada. His life included scholarship, dangerous travel, captivity, and a return to Italy after years of mission work.
1 Audiobook
Captives among the Indians : first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial times
by Francesco Giuseppe Bressani, Massy Harbison, Mary White Rowlandson, James Smith
About the author
Born in Rome on May 6, 1612, Francesco Giuseppe Bressani entered the Society of Jesus as a teenager and became a teacher of literature, philosophy, and mathematics before being sent to New France. He arrived in the 1640s and worked among Indigenous communities, especially in the Huron mission.
Bressani is remembered in part for surviving a brutal capture during his travels in 1644. After being tortured and held by Mohawk captors, he was eventually freed and later returned to mission work in Canada. His writings, including his account of the missions and his experiences, became important sources for understanding the world of New France.
Failing health eventually forced him back to Italy in 1650. He spent the rest of his life serving as a preacher and missionary there, dying in Florence on September 9, 1672. Although no clear portrait was found, he is also associated with an important 1657 map that helped record the geography and missionary history of the region.