FRANCESCO CORSI. — Missionary in India, b. at Pistoia in 1568, d. at Agra on 19 Aug. 1636. He entered the Society of Jesus in Rome in 1587, and after completing his usual studies he set out for the province of Goa. He was immediately assigned to the Mogor mission, that is, among the Muslim emperors or shahs of central India: AKBAR (d. 1604), JAHANGIR (d. 1627), and JAHAN (d. 1658); he remained there for 34 years, first at Lahore and then at Agra at the shah’s court, which he had to follow in its movements southward or toward Kashmir. He exercised a pacifying influence in the relations between Indian rulers, the Portuguese, and the English.
In 1624 he exchanged duties with Fr. Giuseppe de Castro (of Turin) and became chaplain to the Armenian prince Mirza Zulqarnain, a high-ranking Christian official in the service of the Mogul. Fr. Corsi was buried at Agra in the still-existing chapel (Padre Santos Chapel). His published letters reveal a most engaging personality.