Ippolito Desideri
Ippolito Desideri was born on the 21st of December 1684 in Pistoia, a city within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. His family held a fairly prosperous status under the rule of Grand Duke Cosimo III of the House of Medici. He received his initial education from childhood at the local Jesuit school in Pistoia. In 1700, he was selected to attend the Collegio Romano in Rome for advanced studies. From 1706 until 1710, he taught literature at Jesuit colleges located in Orvieto and Arezzo. Later, he returned to teach at the Collegio Romano itself before accepting a mission assignment.
Desideri left Rome on the 27th of September 1712 after receiving approval from Superior General Fr. Michelangelo Tamburini. He embarked from Lisbon for Portuguese India and arrived at Goa one year later. The journey continued through Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajasthan, and Delhi, reaching Agra on the 15th of September 1714. He met his travel companion, the Portuguese Jesuit Manoel Freyre, in Delhi. They traveled together to Srinagar in Kashmir where they were delayed for six months due to illness. Desideri suffered a nearly fatal intestinal illness during this period. They proceeded from Kashmir to Leh, arriving there by the end of June 1715. A seven-month winter journey across the Tibetan plateau followed their arrival in Ladakh. Their survival likely depended on Casal, the Mongol governor who was leaving her post. She led an armed caravan that included them as they reached Lhasa on the 18th of March 1716.
Upon arriving in Lhasa, Desideri received permission from the Mongol Khan of Tibet, Lhasang Khan, to rent a house and practice Christianity. The Khan advised him to improve his knowledge of the Tibetan language and study Tibetan literature after reading Desideri's first work. He entered the Sera Buddhist monastery, one of three great monastic universities of the Gelukpa sect. There he studied Classical Tibetan literary language which had been unknown to Europeans before his time. He became a voracious student of Tibetan literature, philosophy, and culture while residing at the monastery. Desideri debated with Tibetan Buddhist monks and scholars within the institution. He maintained a Roman Catholic altar in his rooms where he offered the Tridentine Mass.
Between 1718 and 1721, Desideri composed five works written in the Classical Tibetan literary language. These texts sought to refute philosophical concepts such as rebirth and Nihilism or Emptiness. He referred to rebirth as metempsychosis in his writings. His books adopted multiple philosophical techniques from Tibetan literature for scholastic argumentation. Fr. Desideri utilized quotations from the dharma and vinaya to support his arguments. He brought the Scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas into debates against the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna. This approach aimed to argue for the superiority of Christian theology over existing Buddhist frameworks. The resulting works represented an attempt to bridge two distinct theological systems through rigorous intellectual engagement.
Italian Capuchin missionaries had been granted the Tibetan mission by the Propaganda Fide in 1703. Three Capuchins arrived in Lhasa in October 1716 with documents claiming exclusive rights to the territory. Desideri contested these claims and both sides complained to Rome regarding their respective positions. While the Capuchins held no personal quarrel with him, they feared other Jesuits would displace them from Tibet and Nepal. They petitioned for his expulsion from the country despite helping co-religionists acclimate to the region. In January 1721, Desideri received orders to leave Tibet and return to India. He stayed at Kuti on the Tibetan-Nepali border before returning to Agra in 1722. The conflict highlighted administrative struggles between different Catholic missionary orders operating within Asia.
Desideri was appointed head pastor of the Catholic community in Delhi after leaving Tibet. He organized education and services while having a new church built to replace the former dilapidated edifice. In 1725 he went to Pondicherry to work with the French Jesuit Syro-Malabar Church mission there. He learned the Tamil language during this period while carrying on the local mission. In 1727 he traveled to Rome to promote the beatification of John de Britto, a Jesuit who had died as a martyr in South-India. He carried extensive notes on Tibet, its culture, and religion aboard a French vessel. He landed in France in August 1727 and met important cardinals and aristocrats including King Louis XV. He arrived in Rome in January 1728 to begin legal proceedings at the Propaganda Fide. Fr. Felice di Montecchio defended the Capuchin case against Desideri's three Defenses of the Jesuit position. On the 29th of November 1732, the Propaganda issued an order confirming exclusive rights for the Capuchin Friars. Desideri died unexpectedly on the 13th of April 1733 at age 48 within the Collegio Romano.
Manuscripts containing his monumental works were buried in Jesuit archives and private collections after his death. These documents comprised the first accurate account of Tibetan geography, government, agriculture, customs, and religious belief. They did not come to light until the late 19th century when researchers began examining the stored materials. A complete edition edited by Luciano Petech was published during the 1950s. An abridged English translation appeared in 1937 while a full translation only emerged in 2010. The rediscovery process revealed detailed observations about Tibetan Buddhist philosophy that had remained hidden for over two centuries. Modern audiences gained access to these texts through various editorial efforts spanning decades of scholarly work.
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Common questions
When and where was Ippolito Desideri born?
Ippolito Desideri was born on the 21st of December 1684 in Pistoia, a city within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. His family held a fairly prosperous status under the rule of Grand Duke Cosimo III of the House of Medici.
How did Ippolito Desideri travel to Tibet and when did he arrive in Lhasa?
Ippolito Desideri left Rome on the 27th of September 1712 and traveled through Lisbon, Goa, Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajasthan, and Delhi before reaching Agra on the 15th of September 1714. He arrived in Lhasa on the 18th of March 1716 after a seven-month winter journey across the Tibetan plateau with an armed caravan led by Casal.
What philosophical works did Ippolito Desideri write between 1718 and 1721?
Between 1718 and 1721, Ippolito Desideri composed five works written in the Classical Tibetan literary language that sought to refute philosophical concepts such as rebirth and Nihilism or Emptiness. These texts utilized quotations from the dharma and vinaya to support arguments for the superiority of Christian theology over existing Buddhist frameworks.
Why was Ippolito Desideri ordered to leave Tibet in January 1721?
Italian Capuchin missionaries contested Ippolito Desideri's claims to the territory and petitioned for his expulsion despite helping co-religionists acclimate to the region. The conflict highlighted administrative struggles between different Catholic missionary orders operating within Asia and resulted in an order confirming exclusive rights for the Capuchin Friars on the 29th of November 1732.
When did Ippolito Desideri die and what happened to his manuscripts after his death?
Ippolito Desideri died unexpectedly on the 13th of April 1733 at age 48 within the Collegio Romano. Manuscripts containing his monumental works were buried in Jesuit archives and private collections until they came to light in the late 19th century when researchers began examining the stored materials.