ALMEIDA, LUIS DE

LUIS DE ALMEIDA. – Missionary in Japan, b. in Lisbon c. 1525, d. in October 1583 on the island of Amakusa. After completing his medical studies in his homeland, Almeida embarked to seek his fortune in the East through commerce and the practice of his profession. In 1555 he founded an orphanage in Ōita, in the kingdom of Bungo (Japan); the same year (?) he entered the Society of Jesus as a lay brother. His medical foundations then took on new developments: in 1557 a large hospital with an adjoining lazaretto was established, and in 1559 a hospital for wealthier Japanese, with a surgical clinic. Almeida personally administered treatments and performed operations until 1561, imparting predominantly practical instruction and introducing various European healing methods to Japan. After 1561, having to leave the Ōita hospital in the hands of Japanese physicians, he devoted himself entirely to the mission, of which he had become procurator. To adapt him for more direct apostolic work, Father Visitor Alessandro Valignano sent him to Macao, where he was ordained a priest by Bishop Carneiro (1580). But his health had already been undermined by his labors, so that he died a few years after his return to Japan. Many of his letters (1557–78) were included in various contemporary collections (Cartas do Japao, etc.); they are listed and analyzed in the Bibliotheca Missionum.