Domenech, Emmanuel
DOMENECH, EMMANUEL
Missionary, writer; b. Lyons, France, Nov. 4, 1824?; d. France, June 1886. At the invitation of Bp. John Odin of Texas, Domenech left the seminary in Lyons (March 1846) for the U.S., where he completed his studies at the seminary in Barrens, Mo.; he was ordained in 1848, and was assigned to Castroville, Texas, and surrounding areas. In 1850 Domenech, ill and exhausted, was granted leave of absence for a visit to France. On his return to Texas in the spring of 1851, he was sent to Brownsville as pastor, and he remained there until October 1852. Ill health again necessitated his return to France, where he remained until his death, devoting himself primarily to writing. He is known for his works on Mexico, Native Americans, missionary life in America, the Franco-Prussian War, and particularly for his Journal d'un Missionnaire au Texas et au Mexique (Paris 1857; Eng. tr. London 1858).
Bibliography: r. bayard, Lone-Star Vanguard: The Catholic Reoccupation of Texas, 1838–1848 (St. Louis 1945). m. g. callahan, The History of the Sisters of Divine Providence, San Antonio, Texas (Milwaukee 1955). b. doyon, The Cavalry of Christ on the Rio Grande, 1849–1883 (Milwaukee 1956).
[m. g. callahan]