ANTONIO da GRADISCA. - Capuchin missionary, born at Gradisca in 1663, of the barons Zucchelli. He entered the convent of Gradisca and set out as a missionary from Genoa (1697), arriving a year later in Brazil and then at Loanda, capital of the kingdom of Angola. In the city, A. was detained by a serious illness; once recovered, he obtained permission to undertake mission work in the province of Sogno, an area inhabited by natives (whom he calls Ethiopians) given to concubinage, sorcery, and idolatry, persisting even after baptism. He also attempted to work in the neighbouring kingdom of Angoy, where he fought, often successfully, against the slave trade conducted by English merchants. His health being gravely undermined, he returned to Loanda, then to his homeland, where he died on 13 July 1716.
His reputation rests on the book in which he describes his missionary activity: Relazioni del viaggio e Missioni di Congo nell'Etiopia inferiore occidentale (1710). It offers a very rich, though insufficiently sifted, repertory of historical, geographical, and political information concerning the regions known to the author, especially the Congo. It was also translated into German. Epilberto Martire