Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad

Marquesetti János SJ

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Deceased

Birth data:: Fiume, Horvát Királyság, currently Rijeka, Croatia — 1704
Death data:: Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína — February 5, 1767
Denomination:: Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical status:: religious
Diocese / Order:: jezsuita (Societas Jesu)

Ordination level:: priest
Entry into religious life:: 1720
First (temporary) vows:: ismeretlen
Perpetual vows:: Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína — 1738
Priestly ordination:: Graz, Osztrák Birodalom, currently Austria — 1733
Other name used:: Marchesetti

Biographical data

János Bautista Marquesetti (Marchesetti), S.J., was born on December 10, 1704, in Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) into a noble family of Italian descent. In 1720, he entered the Society of Jesus in the Austrian Province. In 1734, he arrived in Buenos Aires as a missionary and subsequently served in the Jesuit missions in Paraguay. In 1738, he took his perpetual vows in Candelaria. In the following decades, he worked in several Guaraní reductions, including San Borja, Corpus Christi, San Juan Bautista, Apóstoles, San Ignacio Guazú, and Santa María de la Fe. During the years of the Guaraní War, he was one of the missions’ most prominent collaborators. In addition to his missionary work, he was also involved in botany and agriculture; he is credited with playing a significant role in the large-scale cultivation of prickly pear cacti and the spread of cochineal farming, which served to produce an important dye and also helped defend the missions. Due to his deteriorating health, he was transferred back to Candelaria, where he died on February 5, 1767, a few months before the expulsion of the Jesuits ordered by the Spanish Crown.

Foreign service locations

From	To	Place	Current name, country	Position
1738	1739	San Francisco de Borja redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	São Borja, Brazília	assistant missionary
1739	1742	Corpus Christi redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	Misiones, Argentína	secondary missionary, assistant pastor
1742	1745	San Juan Bautista redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	Rio Grande do Sul, Brazília	missionary
1745	1755	Santos Apóstoles San Pedro y San Pablo redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	Apóstoles, Argentína	dean and parish priest
1755 circa	1758 circa	San Ignacio Guazú, Spanyol Birodalom	Paraquay	missionary; the exact start and end years are uncertain
1758 circa	1763	San Ignacio Guazú redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	San Ignacio Guazú, Paraquay	dean and parish priest
1763	1767	San José redukció, Spanyol Birodalom	San José de Itacuá, Paraquay	parish priest
1767		Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom	Misiones, Argentína	as a patient at the mission center’s hospital; he died there on February 5, 1767

Life timeline

Birth

1704

Fiume, Horvát Királyság, currently Rijeka, Croatia

Entry into religious life

1720

Priestly ordination

1733

Graz, Osztrák Birodalom, currently Austria

Service abroad

1738 – 1739

San Francisco de Borja redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently São Borja, Brazília

assistant missionary

Perpetual vows

1738

Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína

Service abroad

1739 – 1742

Corpus Christi redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína

secondary missionary, assistant pastor

Service abroad

1742 – 1745

San Juan Bautista redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Rio Grande do Sul, Brazília

missionary

Service abroad

1745 – 1755

Santos Apóstoles San Pedro y San Pablo redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Apóstoles, Argentína

dean and parish priest

Service abroad

1755 – 1758

San Ignacio Guazú, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Paraquay

missionary; the exact start and end years are uncertain

Service abroad

1758 – 1763

San Ignacio Guazú redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently San Ignacio Guazú, Paraquay

dean and parish priest

Service abroad

1763 – 1767

San José redukció, Spanyol Birodalom, currently San José de Itacuá, Paraquay

parish priest

Death

February 5, 1767

Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína

Service abroad

1767

Candelaria, Spanyol Birodalom, currently Misiones, Argentína

as a patient at the mission center’s hospital; he died there on February 5, 1767

Sources

P. Reisz Elemér SJ: A Jézustársaság és a világmisszió, Budapest, 1942., 29.;
Bartusz-Dobosi László: Magyar jezsuiták a XVII-XVIII. századi Latin-Amerikában, in: https://www.tavlatok.hu/83/83centenarium.htm
Furlong Guillermo SJ Los Jesuitas Y Cultura Rio Platense, in: https://anaforas.fic.edu.uy/jspui/bitstream/123456789/36662/1/FurJes.pdf
Polić-Bobić, Mirjana – Korade, Mijo: Paragvajska pisma: Ivan Marchesetti i Nikola Plantić: isusovci u Paragvajskoj provinciji Družbe Isusove. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, 2015, 245.
Korade, Mijo: „Ivan Krstitelj Marchesetti (Juan Bautista Marqueseti) u paragvajskim redukcijama.” In: Mirjana Polić-Bobić – Mijo Korade, Paragvajska pisma, Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, 2015, 79–108.
Polić-Bobić, Mirjana, szerk. és ford.: „Pisma Juana Bautiste (Ivana Krstitelja) Marquesetija.” In: Polić-Bobić – Korade, Paragvajska pisma,
Storni, Hugo, SJ: Catálogo de los jesuitas de la Provincia del Paraguay (Cuenca del Plata), 1585–1768. Roma: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1980.

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Citation for this entry

Marquesetti János SJ: personal record. In: Historical directory of Hungarian, Hungarian-descended, and Hungarian-speaking clergy serving abroad. Available at: https://www.diaszporalelkipasztorok.hu/persons_v2/view.php?id=701 (accessed: 2026-09-13).

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