Father Eusebio Kino

Father Eusebio Kino 300th Anniversary of Death Scott 1463 (2011) On March 21, 2011, Vatican City issued a stamp to honor Father Eusebio Kino, the legendary explorer and missionary who spent over 20 years evangelizing across Mexico and the American Southwest. In addition to his missionary efforts, Father Kino was also a noted geographer, cartographer, mathematician and astronomer. Eusebio Francisco Chini was born on August 10, 1645, in Segno, Bishopric of Trent, Holy Roman Empire. Educated in mathematics and astronomy in Germany, he would enter the Jesuit Order in 1665 and became a teacher of mathematics at the Bavarian University of Inglostadt. Despite a desire to go to the Orient, he was assigned to New Spain (Mexico). Following a one-year stay in Spain (due to travel delays), he arrived in Mexico in 1681 and was stationed in Baja California. In Mexico, Kino founded the Mission of Lower California. His activity centered in what is now the state of Sonora, where he established his first mission, in Nuestra Senora de los Dolores. In 1687, he crossed the Rio Colorado on a mission of exploration to determine an overland route to California, and also explored the Rio Grande and Rio Colorado. Over time, Father Kino conducted approximately 40 explorations into what is now Arizona, journeys covering approximately 13,000 kilometers (over 8,000 miles). Much of the earliest geographical knowledge of this area resulted from information recorded in his notebooks. In addition to his travels, he assisted native Indians with agricultural projects and opposed their enslavement in northern Mexican silver mines. Father Kino remained among his missions until his death from fever on March 15, 1711, in what is present-day Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico. A search for Father Kino’s grave led to its discovery in May 19, 1966, by a team of anthropologists and historians. Kino lies buried next to Father Ignacio Iturmendi and Father Manuel González. The successful discovery ended nearly forty years of failures to find and identify the grave site. His remains lie in a crypt which is a revered national monument in Mexico: Crypt of Father Kino, Magdalena de Kino, Mexico Photo by Metamario From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license The €1,60 Vatican City stamp shown at the top of the page was issued in sheets of ten in 2011 to commemorate the third centenary of Father Kino's death. As depicted on the stamp, Father Kino is traveling through the desert, an appropriate depiction of the man known as the "Padre on Horseback." A statue in Father Kino's honor stands in town of his birth, Segno, Italy, as shown here: Statue Father Kino, Segno, Northern Italy Photo by Fringio From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license REFERENCES: Wikipedia, Eusebio Kino UFN, March 21, 2011, Third Centenary of the Death of Father Eusebio Kino James C. Hamilton, Vatican Notes, Volume 59, Number 349, pp. 4-7, 2011, Vatican City New Issues: 2011 Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1463 Date Issued - 21 March 2011 Face Value - €1.25 Perforations - 15x14 Printing Process - Offset Printer - BDT (Ireland) Max Printed - 200,000