François-Joseph Schmitt

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François-Joseph Schmitt (born April 1, 1839 in Gougenheim near Strasbourg , †  September 19, 1904 in Bangkok ) was a French missionary .

Schmitt came on May 21, 1860 the company of the Paris Missionary Seminary and was on 30 May 1863 as a priest ordained . He studied oriental languages such as Sanskrit and Pali and left Paris on July 16, 1863 to support missionary work in Siam, now Thailand . During the first two years Schmitt worked in Bangkok , later he was transferred to Chachoengsao ( Petriou in French ) by Bishop Dupond , where Schmitt mainly worked until the end of his life. Mostly Chinese lived here together with Siamese and some Lao and Khmer people . The church on the right bank of the Maenam Bangpakong ( Bangpakong River ) initially consisted of a primitive wooden structure erected in 1857. Despite all the problems, Schmitt found the time to pursue his linguistic interests and study local religions such as Buddhism and Brahmanism .

In 1869 he left Siam for a short time for health reasons and was successfully treated in Paris. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out , Schmitt was with his family in Strasbourg. After the French troops were nearly defeated, Schmitt took over the care of the 24,000 French prisoners of war near Dresden . In 1872 he returned to his old place of work in Siam, where the number of Christians had meanwhile increased. In 1875 he had a new church consecrated.

France had colonial interests in Indochina . In 1893 a conflict broke out between the Empire and Siam over the area on the left side of the Mekong . Schmitt was assigned to the French delegation as an interpreter and distinguished himself so much that he was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor . Heart disease forced him to return to Europe again, where he stayed until June of the following year without the cure he had hoped for. He went back to Siam but had to undergo regular examinations.

Schmitt was fluent in languages ​​and was able to communicate in numerous European and East Asian languages. He was one of the first Europeans to study Thai inscriptions.

Francois Joseph Schmitt died on September 19, 1904 in the Saint Louis Hospital in Bangkok. In some references it is referred to as “M. Schmitt ”.

Publications

  • Inscription de la Statue de Civa Trouvée par M. Rastmann dans la Forêt qui Recouvre l'Emplacement de l'Ancienne Ville de Kampheng Phet . In: Excursions et Reconnaissances . Saigon: Imprimerie Coloniale 1885, pp. 33-38.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Serhat Ünaldi: Inscriptions of Thailand  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / serhat-uenaldi.com  Humboldt University 2006 (PDF).
  2. ↑ Saint Louis in Bangkok ( Memento of September 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Yoneo Ishii: Notes on Phraratchaphongsawadan (PDF; 828 kB). (Japanese)
personal data
SURNAME Schmitt, François-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French missionary
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Gougenheim
DATE OF DEATH September 19, 1904
Place of death Bangkok