CAVAZZI, GIOVANNI ANTONIO, da MONTECUCOLI. - B. on 13 Oct. 1621, he entered the Capuchin Friars Minor of the ancient province of Bologna in 1639. He was one of the most enterprising and indefatigable missionaries of the Congo (1654–67); worn down by his labours, he returned to his homeland; but Propaganda asked him to resume the work as prefect of the mission (1670). Reduced to extremity, he landed at Genoa, where he d. on 21 Jan. 1680.
Edited by Fr. Fortunato Alamandini da Bologna, his extensive Istorica descrizione dei tre regni Congo, Matamba et Angola... was published in that city in 1687; it is of primary importance for the history, geography, and ethnography of those regions (2nd ed., Milan 1690; 3rd ed., Tivoli 1931). In the public library of Evora (Portugal), MS 116, 2-1, there is preserved an unpublished work: Vite dei Min. Cappuccini morti nelle missioni d'Ethiopia [West Africa, Congo] from the year 1645 to the year 1677.