COCCHI, ANGELO. - Dominican, born in Florence in 1597, died at Fogan on 18 November 1633. In 1622 he was sent to Manila, where he devoted himself to the study of the Tagalog and Chinese languages. On 12 February 1626 he departed for Formosa with other fathers, and by the end of 1630 he had gone to China. During the voyage Chinese sailors killed several passengers, including Fr. Tommaso Sierra, who was accompanying him. Cocchi miraculously escaped death and, after many hardships, finally arrived at Fogan. Presented to the Viceroy of Fujian at Fookow, he was not received as an ambassador because he lacked credentials and gifts, which he had lost. Finally, in 1631 the viceroy received him as an ambassador and ordered him to leave China; but the Chinese Christians sheltered him in Fogan, and thus he continued his ministry.
COCCHI, ANGELO
BIBL.: J. Aduart, Primera parte de la historia de la provincia del S. mo Rosario de Filipinas, II, Saragozza 1639, cap. 40, 41; J. Ferrando and J. Fonseca, Historia de los pp. Dominicos en las islas Filipinas y en sus misiones del Japón, China, Tung-Kin y Formosa, II, Madrid 1870, pp. 327-60.