author
Martin Dobrizhoffer
1717–1791
A Jesuit missionary in South America, he left behind one of the best-known early accounts of the Abipones and the wider Paraguay region. His writing blends close observation, travel narrative, and the worldview of an 18th-century European cleric.
2 Audiobooks
An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)
by Martin Dobrizhoffer
An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (2 of 3)
by Martin Dobrizhoffer
About the author
Born on September 7, 1717, Martin Dobrizhoffer was an Austrian Jesuit missionary and writer. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1736 and was sent to South America in the late 1740s, where he worked for many years among the Guaraní and later the Abipones in the Río de la Plata region.
He is remembered chiefly for Historia de Abiponibus, a major work published in Vienna in the 1780s after he returned to Europe. The book describes the Abipones in detail and also gathers observations on the land, animals, plants, and colonial society of Paraguay, making it valuable both as missionary literature and as a historical source.
Dobrizhoffer returned to his native lands after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767. He died in Vienna on July 17, 1791. Although his account reflects the limits and biases of its time, it remains an important window into South America in the 18th century.