BALZOLA, GIOVANNI

BALZOLA, GIOVANNI. — Salesian missionary and explorer. Born on 1 February 1864 at Villa Miroglio (Cuneo), died at Barcellos on 17 August 1927. At the age of twenty he was welcomed by d. Bosco into the “Maria Ausiliatrice” institute for late vocations. Ordained a priest in 1892, on 2 April of the following year he departed for Brazil as secretary to Mgr. Lasagna; on 8 January 1895 he was appointed director of the government colony “Teresa Cristina” (Matto Grosso), established to civilize the savage Bororos, whom with patience and tenacity he induced to work, taking an interest in their lives and caring for them in illness. In 1900 he took part in an expedition among the Caiabis Indians; the journey, which lasted several weeks and was threatened by savages and fevers, ended in the region of the upper Paranatinga, at the place he called “Redemption” (now the official designation). In the following years he founded many other settlements, continuing his expeditions as far as the borders of Venezuela and Colombia. Exhausted by the climate and privations, in 1945 he had to return to his homeland; but, as soon as he had recovered, he returned to his work. His health, however, undermined, he died after seeing his work crowned with success: faith and civilization had penetrated the forests of the Rio S. Lorenzo and the Rio Negro.