DE SMET, PIERRE-JEAN. - Jesuit, missionary, b. at Termond (Belgium) on 30 Jan. 1801; d. at St. Louis (Missouri) on 23 May 1873. Having emigrated to the United States (1821) out of a desire to devote himself to the missions and having entered the Jesuits, he began in 1830 the long series of journeys (he covered more than 180,000 miles), which were to bring him into contact with numerous Redskin tribes, even the most fearsome and warlike, scattered throughout the region of the Rocky Mountains. The Indians loved him and showed themselves docile to his exhortations and counsels; they called him "the great blackrobe." He was therefore the peacemaker among warring tribes and the intermediary between the Indians and the government of the United States, preventing massacres and bringing about peace treaties. On behalf of his Indians he crossed the Ocean nineteen times, gathering missionaries and alms.
The conversions brought about, the missions founded, the scientific observations and the providential adventures are narrated in his very numerous writings; among the principal ones: Letters and sketches (Philadelphia 1843); Oregon missions and travels over the Rocky Mountains in 1845-46 (New York 1847); Voyage au grand désert en 1851 (Brussels 1853); Western missions and missionaries (New York 1863); New indian sketches (ibid. 1865). To these must be added: H. M. Chattenden-A. T. Richardson, Life, letters and travels of P. J. De S. (4 vols., New York 1905) and the unpublished Linton Album, containing his itineraries from 1821 to his death.
Bibliography7 worksSommervogel, VII, coll. 1307-10; E. Laveille, Le p. D. S., Louvain 1913; A. Huonder, Bannerträger des Kreuzes, I, Freiburg im Br. 1913, p. 1
BIBL.: Sommervogel, VII, coll. 1307-10; E. Laveille, Le p. D. S., Louvain 1913; A. Huonder, Bannerträger des Kreuzes, I, Freiburg im Br. 1913, p. 143 ff.; W. H. W. Penning, s. v. in Cath. Enc., IV, pp. 752-53; J. Kinzig, Der grosse Schwarzrock, ibid. 1922; P. Donnelly, Father P.J.D.S., United States ambassador to the Indians, in Histor. records and studies, 24 (1934), pp. 7-142; G. Garraghan, The Jesuits of the Middle States, I, New York 1938, passim (see index).
Testore, Celestino. “De Smet, pierre-jean.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, col. 1486. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/de-smet-pierre-jean.
MLA
Testore, Celestino. “De Smet, pierre-jean.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, col. 1486. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/de-smet-pierre-jean.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec4_de_smet_pierre_jean,
author = {Testore, Celestino},
title = {De Smet, pierre-jean},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IV},
pages = {1486},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/de-smet-pierre-jean}
}
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