CAROCCI, Orazio. – Missionary and linguist, born in Florence in 1579, died in Tepozotlán on 14 July 1662. He entered the Society of Jesus in Rome in 1601 and in 1605 was sent to the province of Mexico. He spent thirty years in Indian missions, distinguishing himself in the study of indigenous languages, including Mexican (Nahuatl), Massagua, and Otomí. He also served as rector of the college in Tepozotlán, superior of the professed house in Mexico, and assistant to the provincial.
He left manuscripts, various linguistic works, grammars and dictionaries, catechisms, and sermons. He published *Arte de la lengua mexicana con la declaración de los adverbios* (Mexico, 1645; reprinted in *Colección de gramáticas de la lengua mexicana* by the National Museum of Mexico, I [1892], pp. 395–536). Later, Fr. Ignazio de Paredes prepared an abridged edition: *Compendio del arte de la lengua mexicana del p. Horacio Carochi* (ibid., 1734).