Serrano, José (1634–1713)

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Serrano, José (1634–1713)

José Serrano (b. 1634; d. 1713), Spanish missionary and translator. Serrano, born in Andalusia, entered the Society of Jesus and arrived in the Río de la Plata in 1658. In order to be appointed parish priest in the reductions, he had to take an examination in the Guaraní language. He passed the examination, and began mission work in 1665. Serrano is credited with the translation of two Spanish books into the Guaraní language: De la diferencia entre lo temporal y eternal, by Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, and Flos sanctorum. The former was subsequently published and printed with illustrations in 1705, the first book printed in Argentina. Serrano was the rector of the Jesuit college in Buenos Aires in 1696. He died in the Guaraní mission town of Loreto.

See alsoJesuits; Missions: Jesuit Missions (Reducciones).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Santos Hernández, Angel. Los Jesuitas en América. Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.

                                  Nicholas P. Cushner