Alvarez, Goncalo

Alvarez, Goncalo a Portuguese Jesuit, and missionary to the East, was born at Villaviciosa, in the first half of the 16th century, of a noble family; Having studied at Coimbra, he joined the Jesuit Order at that place, Jan. 1, 1549. Being a man of profound learning, he was chosen by St. Francis of Borja to fill the important office of visitor to the Indies. He started on this mission in 1568, and arrived there the following September, in the ship which conveyed Don Luis of Altayde. He accomplished his work, returned to China, and organized the firsts system of studies at Macao. On his way back to Japan, in order to continue his labors with Manoel Lopes, he was shipwrecked and drowned July 2, 1573. He wrote Carta a Sao Francisco de Borja, General de Companhia. This letter was useful to many historians, as well as another, entitled Oriente Conquistado, written at Souza. See Hoefer, Nouvelle Biographie Generale, s.v.