Joseph Labrosse, also known under his religious alias Father Angelus of St. Joseph (; 1636–1697), was a French

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

missionary and writer. He played a role in transmitting Persian medical terminology to Europe, and was the first European to make a serious study of Iranian medicine. He also compiled a Persian dictionary with translations into Latin, French, and Italian.

Biography

Born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, Labrosse joined the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, and adopted the religious alias "Father Angelus of St. Joseph", which literally translates as "Angel of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

". In 1662, he went to

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, ...

where he stayed for roughly two years and studied

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He then travelled to

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, where he studied

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. During his stay in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, from 1664 to 1678, Labrosse tried to use medicine to disseminate Christianity in the country. In the process, he read many Persian and Arabic books on medicine, and he reportedly interacted with the learned people of Isfahan. He also reportedly paid many visits to the shops of the Isfahani druggists, pharmacists and chemists. In 1678, following his return to France, he published his ''Pharmacopoea Persica''. This work consists of a Latin translation of the ''Tibb-i shifā'i'', a 16th-century Persian work on composite remedies written by Muzaffar ibn Muhammad al-Husayni (died 1556), as well as supplementary commentary by Labrosse himself. In 1684, while in the Netherlands, Labrosse published his ''Gazophylacium linguae persarum''. This work is a Persian dictionary with Italian, Latin and French definitions, that pays special attention to medicine and medicinal substances. In ''Safavid Persia: The History and Politics of an Islamic Society'', the work is referred to as a "veritable encyclopaedia of Iran, including a few transcriptions that indicate the colloquial pronunciation of the time". As far as eastern languages are concerned; in addition to Arabic and Persian, Labrosse was proficient in Turkish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labrosse, Joseph 1636 births 1697 deaths Discalced Carmelites People from Toulouse French expatriates in Iran 17th-century French male writers Translators from Persian Translators to Latin French missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Iran Safavid Iran