Jean-François Gerbillon

Jean-François Gerbillon (4 June 1654, Verdun, France – 27 March 1707, Peking, China) was a French Catholic missionary who worked in China.

Biography

Gerbillon entered the Society of Jesus in 1670. After completing the usual course of study, he taught grammar and humanities for seven years. In 1685, he was among the Jesuits chosen to found the French mission in China. For the first leg of the trip, he was attached to the embassy of the Chevalier de Chaumont to Siam, and was accompanied by a group of Jesuit mathematicians (Jean de Fontaney (1643–1710), Joachim Bouvet (1656–1730), Louis Le Comte (1655–1728), Guy Tachard (1648–1712) and Claude de Visdelou (1656–1737)). Tachard remained in Siam beside King Narai, but the others reached China in 1687.

Upon their arrival in Beijing, they were received by the Kangxi Emperor, who was interested in their scientific knowledge and retained Gerbillion and Joachim Bouvet at the court. As soon as they had learned the language of the country, Gerbillion with Thomas Pereira, one of his companions, was sent as interpreter to Nerchinsk in Russia. He additionally wrote several works on mathematics.

Writings by Gerbillon include: (1688–98)