Pedro Marbán

Pedro Marbán (Tiedra, January 8, 1653 - Loreto, November 28, 1713) was a Jesuit missionary and founder of several missions among the Mojeño people of Bolivia. The province of Marbán in the Bolivian province of Beni is named after him.

Early life and education

Pedro Marbán was born in Tiedra in what is now the Valladolid province of Spain on January 8, 1653. Marbán lost his mother at an early age, and was taken in by an aunt. His father sent him to study in Villagarcía and after he completed his studies in the humanities, sent him to Salamanca, where some of his relatives lived. In his fourth year, Juan de Ribadeneira arrived in Spain in the role of procurator and he called Marbán to Seville, where the expedition was planned. In May 1675, the missionaries arrived at the port of the Guapay river (modern Río Grande, to the east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. the first Jesuit Mission among the Moxos.

Leadership of Moxos mission

Marbán was designated as the superior at the mission from 1681 to 1700. A facsimile reprint by Julius Platzmann was printed in Leipzig in 1895. It is one of the earliest descriptive works of an Arawakan language.

The book was included in the Memory of the World Programme in 2023.

Death

After more than three decades living in the Moxos region, he died in Loreto in 1713.