BRITTO, Ignácio de. - Indo-Portuguese Barnabite, missionary, b. in Rangoon (Burma) in 1765. Guided to the faith by Fr. Sangermano (v.), he entered the Barnabites. He worked in the service of the parish church of the Assumption in Rangoon; he directed the local institute for girls in danger and strove for the rebuilding of the churches destroyed by the Anglo-Burmese wars. Through his activity and learning he contributed greatly to the defense of the Catholic faith against the Protestant Baptists. He died in Rangoon on June 21, 1832, the last Barnabite of the mission of Ava and Pegu.

His literary activity was remarkable, all of it remaining in manuscript: a Burmese Grammar for Italians, an Italian-Burmese-Pali Dictionary, a volume of Sermons in the Burmese language, a Burmese Pharmacology with Italian and Latin nomenclature, a book of medicine in Burmese, and a collection of Hymns and religious songs in Portuguese and Latin.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: V. Sangermano, Relazione del Regno birmano, Rome 1833, appendix, pp. 9-10, 17; L. Gallo, Storia del Cristianesimo nell'Impero birmano, III, Milan 1862, pp. 138-72; O. Premoli, Storia dei Barnabiti, III, Rome 1925, pp. 351-93, 409-11; Streit, Bibl., VIII, p. 732; G. Boffito, Biblioteca degli Scrittori barnabiti, I, Florence 1933, p. 345; L. Levati, Menologio dei Barnabiti, VI, Genoa 1934, pp. 166-68.

Virginio M. Colciago

@incollection{ec3_britto_ignacio_de, author = {Colciago, Virginio Maria}, title = {Britto, ignacio de}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {109--110}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/britto-ignacio-de} }

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Britto, Ignácio de

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