ANNI BALDA of GENOA. - Born on 19 Sept. 1723, at the age of 17 he entered the Capuchin Friars Minor; after being ordained a priest, he preached for several years in Liguria, but desiring to bring the Gospel to the infidels, in 1751 he was sent to the island of São Tomé, where, preaching, baptizing, and instructing, he traversed much of the territory; in 1755 he moved to the nearby island of Príncipe; in 1756 he reached Benin; finally, in 1757 he transferred to Brazil. After 17 years of apostolate, he returned to his homeland and died in Genoa in 1785. He wrote a detailed account of his travels, still in manuscript form in the general archive of the Order: *Viaggio in Africa e America portughesa fatto dal P. Annibale da Genova, missionario apostolico cappuccino*, etc.
ANNI BALDA DE GENOVA
BIBL.: Francesco Saverio, *I Cappuccini genovesi*, I: Note bibliografiche, Genoa 1912, pp. 109–111; M. De Tabaudé and F. de Primiero, *Os missionarios capuchinhos no Brasil*, São Paulo 1929, p. 101.