Brigot, Pierre

BRIGOT, PIERRE. - B. at Sully (France) on 1 Sept. 1713, d. at Pondicherry 1 Nov. 1791. In 1743 he was sent to Siam; he worked at Mergui, and from 1742 to 1750 he was pro-vicar of Tenasserim. Appointed coadjutor bishop of Siam in 1755, and consecrated two years later at Manila, during the Burmese invasions of 1758 and 1767 he encouraged the Christians to defend the capital. The Burmese, victorious in this last invasion, deported the bishop along with many Christians to Rangoon, where in 1768 he consecrated Bishop Percoto (v.), apostolic vicar of Ava and Pegu. From 1776 he directed the Malabar mission (Pondicherry), which the suppressed Jesuits had been obliged to leave, and was thus the first superior of that mission, entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions. He died shortly after resigning his office.

He left a manuscript on the history of Siam, published by Turpin (Histoire civile et naturelle du royaume de Siam et des révolutions qui ont bouleversé cet empire jusqu'en 1770, Paris 1771), but with changes against which the author protested. This work had two English translations, in 1811 and 1908.