GIOSEPPE MARIA BERNINI da GARGNANO. - Illustrious missionary to Tibet. Born on 2 Sept. 1709 into a noble family, he entered the Capuchin Friars Minor of the ancient Province of Brescia in 1726 (1731?). Well versed in studies, he departed for the mission to Tibet, arriving at Patna in 1739; there he remained until his establishment in Lhasa in May 1742, where he stayed despite persecution. In December 1745 he founded a flourishing mission at Bettiah, in Nepal, which he directed until his death, which occurred on 15 January 1761, after having served as superior at Chandernagor from December 1746 to August 1750.
His confrere, the missionary Cassiano Beligatti da Macerata (q.v.), wrote his Memoirs, which, supplemented by Fr. Silvio da Brescia with letters from Bernini himself, were published by Moroni in Verona in 1767. He composed various works in Hindi and Urdu for the religious instruction of converts, translated into Italian, to facilitate the doctrinal work of missionaries, the sacred and religious Brahminical books, compiled a voluminous “Hindi-Latin-Italian” dictionary and another “Italian-Hindi.” A Dialogue between a Christian and a Pagan, in Nagari script, and a Description of Nepal have been published in his name.