LERCHUNDI, GIUSEPPE. — Franciscan, born at Oria, near S. Sebastián (Spain), on 24 February 1836, died on 8 March 1896. Having arrived as a missionary in Morocco on 19 January 1862, he held various offices in that mission, as vicar of the pro-prefect (1863), visitor of the missions on the western coast (1865), and superior of the mission of Tetuán (1867–69).
In 1877 the S. Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith appointed L. pro-prefect, but he encountered opposition from the government, so much so that he had to return to Spain, where for some time he was rector of the missionary College of Santiago. Once the difficulties had been resolved in 1879, he took possession of his office, in which he displayed prodigious activity: he built two churches in Tangier, reorganized the missions of Larache, Iafi, and Rabat, founded that of Casablanca, and established various schools. For the benefit of the missions, in 1882 he opened a new missionary College in Chipiona (Cádiz), as well as the «Asociación de señoras católicas», which became very widespread. Among his charitable works, mention should be made of the construction of houses for the poor and the Spanish hospital in Tangier. There he also organized the Chamber of Commerce. He likewise undertook diplomatic political action in the service of religion; particularly noteworthy was an embassy to Leo XIII on 25 February 1888. He distinguished himself as a scholar of Arabic, publishing a grammar of Moroccan colloquial Arabic (1872), a Hispano-Arabic anthology, and an Arabic-Spanish dictionary.