Diego de Pantoja

Diego de Pantoja, SJ (Chinese: 龐迪我, Pang Diwo; April 1571, Valdemoro, Spain – 9 July 1618, Portuguese Macau, China) was a Spanish Jesuit and missionary to China who is best known for having accompanied Matteo Ricci in Beijing. His name also appears in some sources as Didaco Pantoia.

Biography

He joined the Society of Jesus in 1589. He studied at the Plasencia College.

He arrived in Portuguese Macau on 20 July 1597, where he received his final instructions for his work in China at St. Paul's College. He was then sent to the Ming dynasty's southern capital, Nanjing, where he stayed from March 1600. He worked with Matteo Ricci, who later completed his work on the Zhifang waiji, China's first global atlas. Together, they left Nanjing on 19 May 1600, and arrived at the Ming dynasty's Northern and overall capital, Beijing, on 24 January 1601.

He was the first Westerner to enter the Forbidden City.

He worked in Beijing for many years, including as a musician, astronomer (with calendar corrections) and as a geographer (working with latitude). He was able to obtain some land to create a Jesuit cemetery.