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{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific_prefix = [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|Padre]]
| name = Henrique Henriques
| honorific_suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]]
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Anrique Anriquez
| birth_date = {{birth year|1520}}
| birth_place = [[Vila Viçosa]], [[Alentejo]],<br/>[[Kingdom of Portugal]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1600|2|6|1520||}}
| death_place = [[Punicale]], [[Portuguese India]]<br/>(now [[Punnaikayal]],<br/>[[Thoothukudi district]],<br/> [[Tamil Nadu]], India)
| occupation = [[Jesuit]] priest, missionary, theological author, translator
| church = '''[[Catholic Church]]'''
* [[Franciscan]] (till 1545)
* [[Society of Jesus]] (1545-1600)
| buried = [[Our Lady of Snows Basilica]], [[Thoothukudi]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| alma_mater = [[University of Coimbra]], [[Portugal]]
| education = [[Canon Law]]
}}'''Henrique Henriques''' (also known as Anrique Anriquez)<ref>{{cite book|last=Kamil Zvelebil|author-link=Kamil Zvelebil|title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature |year=1992|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09365-2|pages=151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA151}}</ref> (1520–1600) was a [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] Jesuit priest and [[missionary]] who spent most of his life in missionary activities in [[South India]]. After his initial years in [[Goa]] he moved to [[Tamil Nadu]] where he mastered [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and wrote several books including a [[dictionary]]. He is considered to be the first European Tamil scholar.

He strongly believed that books of religious doctrines should be in local languages and to this end he wrote books in Tamil. His efforts made Tamil the first non-European language to be printed in moveable type. Hence he is sometimes called ''The Father of the Tamil Press''. After his death his mortal remains were buried in [[Our Lady of Snows Basilica]] in [[Thoothukudi]], [[Tamil Nadu]].

==Early life==
Henriques was born into a [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardi Jewish]] family in 1520 in [[Vila Viçosa]], [[Alentejo]], [[Kingdom of Portugal]]. He joined the [[Franciscan]] [[religious order|order]] but had to leave due to his [[History of the Jews in Portugal|Jewish ancestry]]. He later studied [[Canon Law]] at the [[University of Coimbra]] until 1545.<ref name=TN>Padre Henrique Henriques, the Father of the Tamil Press</ref> On 7 October 1545, he entered the newly founded [[Society of Jesus]] in [[Coimbra]] (Portugal).<ref name=Jes/> He departed for India in 1546.<ref name=BDCM>Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions p. 288</ref>

==Missionary in India==
Henriques initially lived in [[Portuguese Goa]] until 1557 and then moved to the [[Pearl Fishery Coast]] or [[Tuticorin]], under orders of [[St. Francis Xavier]], where he worked as a missionary<ref name=TN/> from 1547 to 1549.<ref name=BDCM/> In 1549, after the death of Antonio Criminali, he was elected superior of this mission, a post which he held until 1576. His progress in the development of the community and his concerns about the problems in the mission are explicit from the regular reports he wrote to his [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]].<ref name=BDCM/>

==Printing in India==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Thambiran Vanakkam 1578.JPG
| width1 = 140
| alt1 =
| caption1 = ''Thambiran Vanakkam''
| image2 = Kirisithiyani Vanakkam Cochin 1579.JPG
| width2 = 140
| alt2 =
| caption2 = ''Kirisithiyaani Vanakkam''
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}}

Henriques strongly felt that the mission could only be successful through the use of local languages. To this end he arranged for the printing of books on [[Christian doctrine]] in Tamil.<ref name=BDCM/> Apart from being the first to produce a [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] [[Dictionary]], he set up the first Tamil press and printed books in Tamil script. The first such book printed in Tamil script was ''[[Thambiran Vanakkam]]'' (தம்பிரான் வணக்கம்) (1578), a 16-page translation of the Portuguese "Doctrina Christam", printed at [[Quilon|Quilon(Kollam)]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/article476102.ece | title=Tamil saw its first book in 1578 | work=[[The Hindu]]| date=13 November 2010 | access-date=4 November 2016}}</ref> It was followed by ''Kirisithiyaani Vanakkam'' (கிரிசித்தியானி வணக்கம்)(1579).<ref>Literary Contributions of select list of Tamil Scholars from Overseas</ref> These were works of catechism, containing the basic prayers of Catholicism. Before this 'Cartilha', a Tamil prayer book printed using Latin script, was printed in Lisbon by command of the Portuguese king and financed by the [[Paravars]]<ref>[[Paravar]] (Wikipedia article)</ref> of Tuticorin who also helped with scholarly assistance.

He also printed ''Flos Sanctorum'' in Tamil (1586).<ref name=BDCM/> This book contains the lives of Saints. By his efforts, Tamil became the first non-European language to be printed on a printing press.<ref name=TN/><ref name=Encyl>Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2 p.1669</ref><ref>Muhammad Shahidullah & His Contribution To Bengali Linguistics</ref> Hence, he is sometimes referred to as ''Father of the Tamil press''<ref>Muslim Identity, Print Culture, and the Dravidian Factor in Tamil p.86</ref>

Henriques is the first known European Tamil scholar.<ref name=TN/> Some of his works in the ''Malabar (Malauar) language'' (that is, Tamil) are no longer extant, including a work on grammar, a dictionary, a booklet for confession and a religious history from the Creation to the Ascension.<ref name=BDCM/>

==Death==
Henriques died on 22 February 1600 in a village named [[Punnaikayal|Punicale]] (now [[Punnaikayal]] in [[Thoothukudi district]], Tamil Nadu).<ref name=Jes>Jesuits in Ceylon (in the XVI and XVII Centuries) p. 156</ref> According to ''The Jesuit Annual Letter for 1601'' {{cquote|...on the day he died all the Muslims of the neighbouring village Patanam (Kayalpattanam) fasted; the [[Hindus]] also of the neighbouring places fasted two days and closed all their shops and bazaars to express their grief over the death of the good and holy old man. So great was the respect and consideration every one had concerning his holiness.<ref name=TN/>}}

His mortal remains were buried in [[Our Lady of Snows Basilica]] in [[Thoothukudi]], Tamil Nadu.<ref name=Jes/>

== Works ==
* 1578: ''Doctrina Christam en Linga Malauar Tamul'' / ''Doctrina Cristaã tresladada em lingua Tamul [...].'' Impressa em Coulam no Collegio do Saluador. — Only known copy: Houghton Library, Harvard University, GEN Typ 100 578 ([https://id.lib.harvard.edu/digital_collections/990057347240203941 digital copy])
* 1579: ''Doctrina Christaã, a maneyra de Dialogo [...].'' Em Cochim, no Collegio da Madre de Deos. — Known copies: Sorbonne Université ([https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP981-1-15-54 digital copy], original lost), Bodleian Library
* 1580: ''Confessionairo''. — Known copies: Bodleian Library, Vet. Or. f. Tam. 1., Moscow State University Library.
* 1586: [''Flos sanctorum'']. — Known copies: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat.ind.24 ([https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.ind.24 digital copy]), Royal Danish Library

==See also==

* [[Printing in Goa]]
* [[Printing in Tamil language]]
* [[Statue of Our Lady of Miracles, Jaffna patao]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite conference
| first = Rajamanickam
| last = S
| title = Padre Henrique Henriques, the Father of the Tamil Press
| book-title = Second International Tamil Conference Seminar
| publisher=International Association of Tamil Research, Madras
| year = 1968
| url = http://www.tamilnation.org/conferences/IATR68_Madras/rajamanickam.htm
| access-date = 27 January 2009}}

*{{Cite book
| last = Anderson
| first = Gerald
| title = Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions
| publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
| year = 1999
| pages = 288
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC
| isbn = 978-0-8028-4680-8}}

*{{Cite book
| last = Perera
| first = Simon Gregory
| title = Jesuits in Ceylon (in the XVI and XVII Centuries)
| publisher=Asian Educational Services
| year = 2004
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/jesuitsinceyloni0000pere/page/156 156]
| url = https://archive.org/details/jesuitsinceyloni0000pere
| isbn = 978-81-206-1843-5}}

*{{Cite book
| last = Various authors
| title = Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2
| publisher=Sahitya Akademi
| year = 1988
| pages = 1669
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC
| isbn = 978-81-260-1194-0}}

*{{Cite book
| last = Mandal
| first = Ranita
| title = Muhammad Shahidullah & His Contribution To Bengali Linguistics
| publisher=PhD Thesis, [[University of Calcutta]]
| year = 2002
| pages = Chapter 3
| url = http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/benling/chapter3.html
}}

*{{Cite web
| last = Kalyanasundaram
| first = K
| title = Literary Contributions of select list of Tamil Scholars from Overseas
| publisher=TamilLibrary.org
| url = http://tamilelibrary.org/teli/tschlr.html
| access-date = 27 January 2009}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henriques, Henrique}}
[[Category:1520 births]]
[[Category:People from Vila Viçosa]]
[[Category:1600 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century Portuguese Jesuits]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian Jesuits]]
[[Category:University of Coimbra alumni]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in India]]
[[Category:Linguists of Tamil]]
[[Category:Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries]]
[[Category:Jesuit missionaries]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]

Henrique Henriques - Revision history

Greyscaledesign at 03:31, 26 December 2025