The Father of the Tamil Press
Padre Henrique Henriques
Henrique Henriques (also known as Anrique Anriquez) (1520–1600), was Portuguese Jesuit priest andmissionary who spent most of his life and missionary activities in South India. After initial years in Goa he moved to Tamil Nadu where he mastered Tamil and wrote several books including a dictionary. He is considered to be the first European Tamil scholar.
He strongly believed that books of religious doctrines should be in local languages and to this end he wrote books in Tamil. His efforts made Tamil the first non-European language to be printed. Hence sometimes called as The Father of the Tamil Press. After his death his mortal remains were buried in Our Lady of Snows Basilica in Tuticorin, India.
Early life
Henriques was born in 1520 in Vila Vicosa, Portugal. He joined the Franciscan order but had to leave as he was of Jewish ancestry. He later studied Canon Law in the University of Coimbra till 1545. He entered the newly founded Society of Jesus on the 7 October 1545, in Coimbra (Portugal ) and departed for India
Missionary in India
Henriques initially lived in Goa until 1557 and then move to Fishery Coast or Tuticorin, under orders of St. Francis Xavier, where he worked as a missionary from 1547 to 1549. In 1549, after the death of Antonio Criminali, he was elected as the superior of this mission, a post which he held till 1576. His progress in development of the community and his concerns on the problems in mission are explicit from the regular reports he wrote to his Superior General.
Printing in India
Henriques strongly felt that the mission could only be successful through the use of local languages. To this end he arranged printing of books on Christian doctrine in Tamil.[4] Apart from being the first to produce a Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary, he set up the first Tamil press and printed books in Tamil script. The first such book printed in Tamil script was Thambiran Vanakkam (தம்பிரான் வணக்கம்) (1578), a 16-page translation of the Portuguese "Doctrina Christam". It was followed by Kirisithiyaani Vanakkam (கிரிசித்தியானி வணக்கம்)(1579). These were works of catechism, containing basic prayers of Catholicism.
He also printed Flos Sanctorum in Tamil (1586). This book contains the lives of Saints. With his efforts Tamil became the first non-European language to be printed in a printing press. Hence, he is sometimes referred to as Father of the Tamil press.
Henriques is the first known European Tamil scholar. Some of his works in Malabar (Malauar) language (that is, Tamil) are no longer extant including a work on grammar, a dictionary, a booklet for confession and a religious history from Creation to Ascension
Death
Henriques died at Punnaikayal, Tamil Nadu on 22 February 1600.[3] According to the The Jesuit Annual Letter for 1601
| “ | ...on the day he died all the Muslims of the neighbouring village Patanam (Kayalpattanam) fasted; the Hindus also of the neighbouring places fasted two days and closed all their shops and bazaars to express their grief over the death of the good and holy old man. So great was the respect and consideration every one had concerning his holiness. | ” |
His mortal remains were buried in Our Lady of Snows Basilica in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.
References
§ S, Rajamanickam (1968). "Padre Henrique Henriques, the Father of the Tamil Press". Second International Tamil Conference Seminar. International Association of Tamil Research, Madras
§ Anderson, Gerald (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 288. ISBN 9780802846808.
§ Perera, Simon Gregory (2004). Jesuits in Ceylon (in the XVI and XVII Centuries). Asian Educational Services. pp. 156.ISBN 9788120618435.
§ Various authors (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 1669. ISBN 9788126011940.
§ Mandal, Ranita (2002). Muhammad Shahidullah & His Contribution To Bengali Linguistics. PhD Thesis, University of Calcutta. pp. Chapter 3.
§ Kalyanasundaram, K. "Literary Contributions of select list of Tamil Scholars from Overseas". TamilLibrary.org. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
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