CALANCHA, ANTONIO. – Born in La Plata, Peru, in 1584; died in Lima on 1 March 1654. At the age of 14 he entered the Augustinian order. He became renowned not only as a historian, philosopher, and theologian, but also as a preacher, spiritual director, and student of the natural sciences.
Principal works: *De Immaculata B. Virginis Conceptio-ne* (Lima 1629); *Crónica moralizada de la Orden de s. Agustín en el Perú* (I, Barcelona 1639; II, Lima 1653); *De natura et qualitatibus castoris americani* (1642).
BIBL.: G. Vela, *Ensayo de una biblioteca Ibero-Americana de la Orden de s. Agustín*, I, Madrid 1913, pp. 487-494.