Gaspar Antonio Chi

Gaspar Antonio Chi (* 1531 in Maní , † 1610 in Mérida ) was an indigenous Maya - chronicler .

Life

Gaspar Antonio was a son of the Maya priest Ah Kin Chi or Napuc Chi and the Ix Kukil Xiu, who, as the daughter of Ah Dzulub Xiu, belonged to the Tutul Xiu dynasty . He was very close to his mother's family, which is why he appeared under the name Xiu or further de Herrera after his godmother Beatriz de Herrera, the wife of Francisco de Montejo .

Trained by Spanish missionaries , alongside Mayathan and Nahuatl, he had an excellent command of spoken and written Spanish and Latin , which is why he often performed as an interpreter between the Mayan and Spanish cultures. He was the royal interpreter for the Spanish government of Yucatan .

As an organist, master and teacher of Spanish language and grammar, he taught in the chapel of Tizimín , where Spaniards such as the later historian Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar were among his students.

Alongside Nachi Cocom , he was the most important source of information for Diego de Landa's work Relación de las cosas de Yucatán .

Works (selection)

• Árbol genealógico de la familia Xiú
• Crónica de Maní
• Documentos de Tierras de Sotuta, 1600

literature

• Kenneth J. Andrien: The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin America. 2013, pp. 13–32
• Frans Blom : Gaspar Antonio Chi, Interpreter , In: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 30, No. 2, 1928, pp. 250-262
• Stephen D. Houston, Oswaldo Fernando Chinchilla Mazariegos, David Stuart : The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing , 2001, pp. 35-38
• Amara L. Solari: Maya Spatial Biographies in Communal Memory and Cosmic Time: The Franciscan Evangelical Campaign of Itzmal, Yukatan , 2007 (online)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stephen D. Houston, Oswaldo Fernando Chinchilla Mazariegos, David Stuart: The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing , 2001, pp. 39-40.
2. ^ Relación de las cosas de Yucatán. online version, Spanish (PDF; 513 kB)