Goswin Nickel (1582 – 31 July 1664) was a German Jesuit priest and the tenth Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.

Goswin was born in , North-Westphalia (Germany). He studied in Paderborn and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

(1611–1615), where he was promoted priest on 28 October 1614. He was elected Superior-General less than a week after the death of his predecessor

Aloysius Gottifredi Aloysius (Alessandro Luigi) Gottifredi (3 May 1595 – 12 March 1652) was an Italian Jesuit, the ninth Superior-General of the Society of Jesus. His service is the shortest of anyone to hold the office. Two months after his election, Father Go ...

, on 17 March 1652. During these years the quarrels with the

Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...

theologians were growing more and more acrimonious, especially in France where

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

, French scientist, philosopher and Jansenist sympathizer was leading the attack on the Jesuits. The great controversy on the Chinese Rites (1645) continued. Owing to his great age, Father Nickel obtained from the 11th

General Congregation The General Congregation is an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world, and serves as the highest authority in the Society of Jesus. A General Congregation (GC) is always summoned on the death or resignation of the adm ...

the election of Gian Paolo Oliva as vicar-general with right of succession (on 7 June 1661). This was approved by

Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice-papal legate, and he held various di ...

. The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

novelist

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

mentions Nickel in his famous book ''

The Magic Mountain ''The Magic Mountain'' (, ) is a novel by Thomas Mann. It was first published in Germany in November 1924. Since then, it has gone through numerous editions and been translated into many languages. It is widely considered a seminal work of 20t ...

'', bringing up a relatively forgotten quote by the Superior-General about love for one's fatherland, which Nickel called "a plague with the most certain death of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

love". This notion of Nickel's has already been touched on in the Finnish philosopher Edward Westermark's book '' The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas'', back in 1917. Nickel died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Nickel 1582 births 1664 deaths 16th-century German Jesuits 17th-century German Jesuits 17th-century German Catholic theologians People from Jülich Superiors General of the Society of Jesus 17th-century German male writers