ZANOBI, MARIA BENUCCI. - Bishop, b. at Firenze on 25 Aug. 1779, d. at Agra on 24 June 1824. He entered the Capuchin Order on 27 Sept. 1799; in 1814 he was appointed prefect of the mission of the Congo; in 1822–24 he was apostolic vicar of Hindustan (Agra).
Toward the end of Sept. 1814 Fr. Z. expressed to Pio VII his inner missionary vocation. He was then assigned by the S. Congregation of Propaganda to the mission of Loanda, and the Supreme Pontiff created him—visae vacis oraculo—prefect of the mission of the Congo. After a long voyage, he arrived on 6 March 1816 at Loanda in Angola, where he labored for six years with active zeal and directed the mission with wise and prudent discretion. His fame had reached Rome. When the first apostolic vicar of the vicariate of Hindustan was to be appointed, Propaganda’s choice fell upon Fr. Z. After being consecrated titular bishop by the bishop of Loanda, he departed on 31 July 1822 and, after a journey of fourteen months, arrived at Calcutta on 8 Oct. 1823. Having then reached Agra, he was immediately seized by a fever which led him to death within three days. His body lay unknown in the old church of Agra, where it was found in 1893 and placed in a most rich urn.