Alexander de Rhodes

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Father Alexander de Rhodes born at Avignon, France 15 March 1591; died at Isfahan, Persia, 5 November 1660.

He was a French Jesuit missionary who had a lasting impact on Christianity in Vietnam. Alexander de Rhodes entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Rome on 24 April 1612 to dedicate his life to missionary work. He arrived in Indo-China about 1619. A Jesuit mission had been established in Hanoi in 1615. Rhodes arrived there in 1620. He spent 10 years in and around the Court at Hanoi during the rule of Trinh Tung and Trinh Trang. While he was in Vietnam, he wrote the first Vietnamese Catechism and he created a written system of Vietnamese largely using the Roman alphabet - it is used today and now called Quốc Ngữ (national language). Rhodes in his reports said he converted more than 6,000 Vietnamese, almost certainly an inflated number but he certainly did win converts.

In 1624 he was sent to the East Indies starting in Cochin China. In 1627 he travelled to Tongking, Vietnam where he worked until 1630 when he was forced to leave. He was expelled from Vietnam in 1630 as Trinh Trang became concerned about the dangers of the Catholic religion.

From Vietnam he went to Macau where he spent 10 years. He then returned to Vietnam, this time to the lands of the Nguyen Lords, mainly around Hue. He spent six years in this part till he aroused the displeasure of Nguyen Phuc Lan and was condemned to death. The sentence was reduced to exile. He returned to Rome by 1649 and pleaded for increased funding for Catholic missions to Vietnam and told (rather exaggerated stories) about the natural riches to be found in Vietnam.

However, the Church sent him to Persia instead of back to Vietnam and he died there in 1660.

Daily conversation in Vietnam "resembles the singing of birds," wrote Alexander de Rhodes.

He wrote several books about Vietnam including:

Histoire dv royavme de Tvnqvin, (History of the Royal (House?) of Tonkin?) published in Rome in 1650
Vietnamese - Latin - Portuguese dictionary, published in Rome in 1651
Rhodes of Viet Nam: The Travels and Missions of Father Alexander de Rhodes in China and Other Kingdoms of the Orient (English translation published in 1966).

He wrote Tunchinensis historiæ libri duo pub. 1652 and La glorieuse mort d'André, Catéchiste pub. 1653, and Catechismus pub. 1658.

In 1943, the French colony of Indochina issued a 30c postage stamp honoring him.

Customs and Culture of Vietnam claims Rhodes spent twelve years in Vietnam studying under another Jesuit, Francisco de Pina. Perhaps Pina was in charge of the Hanoi mission that was started in 1615?