Charles Le Gobien, S.J.

Charles Le Gobien, S.J. (1653-1708) entered the Society of Jesus on November 25, 1671. He taught rhetoric and humanities in various Jesuit schools in France, including at the College of Tours and the Royal College of Alençon before transferring to Paris. Hoping to elicit interest in the Asian mission, he published in 1697 the Lettres sur les progrez de la religion a la Chine (Paris: Antoine Lambin). This text was followed a year later by the Histoire de l'edit de l'Empereur de la Chine en faveur de la religion Chrétienne avec un éclaircissement sur les honneurs que les Chinois rendent a, Confucius et aux morts (Paris: J. Anisson). Moreover, as part of his campaign to generate support for the Society’s evangelizing efforts across East Asia, Le Gobien published the Histoire des Isles Marianes nouvellement converties à la religion chrétienne in Paris in 1700. Finally, sometime after the publication of this book, Father Le Gobien edited the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, an anthology of letters sent by French Jesuit missionaries to their provincial in Paris, with the purpose of replying to the Jansenist attacks and “edifying” European Jesuits. In 1706, Father Le Gobien was named procurator of the Franco-Chinese Province, but this task was cut short by his death in Paris on March 5, 1708, at the age of 55.