astronomy

Henrique Henriques

Henrique Henriques is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Henrique Henriques rather than just read about it. In short: Henrique Henriques (also known as Anrique Anriquez) (1520–1600) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary who spent most of his life in missionary activities in South India. After his initial years in Goa he moved to Tamil Nadu where he mastered Tamil and wrote several books including a dictionary.

Key takeaways

Henrique Henriques belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Henrique Henriques to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Henrique Henriques from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Henrique Henriques (also known as Anrique Anriquez) (1520–1600) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary who spent most of his life in missionary activities in South India. After his initial years in Goa he moved to Tamil Nadu where he mastered Tamil and wrote several books including a dictionary. He is considered to be the first European Tamil scholar. He strongly believed that books of religious doctrines should be in local languages and to this end he wrote books in Tamil. His efforts made Tamil the first non-European language to be printed in moveable type. Hence he is sometimes called The Father of the Tamil Press. After his death his mortal remains were buried in Our Lady of Snows Basilica in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.

Early life Henriques was born into a Sephardi Jewish family in 1520 in Vila Viçosa, Alentejo, Kingdom of Portugal. He joined the Franciscan order but had to leave due to his Jewish ancestry. He later studied Canon Law at the University of Coimbra until 1545. On 7 October 1545, he entered the newly founded Society of Jesus in Coimbra (Portugal). He departed for India in 1546.

Missionary in India Henriques initially lived in Portuguese Goa until 1557 and then moved to the Pearl Fishery Coast or Tuticorin, under orders of St. Francis Xavier, where he worked as a missionary from 1547 to 1549. In 1549, after the death of Antonio Criminali, he was elected superior of this mission, a post which he held until 1576. His progress in the development of the community and his concerns about the problems in the mission are explicit from the regular reports he wrote to his Superior General.

Printing in India

Henriques strongly felt that the mission could only be successful through the use of local languages. To this end he arranged for the printing of books on Christian doctrine in Tamil. Apart from being the first to produce a Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary, he set up the first Tamil press and printed books in Tamil script. The first such book printed in Tamil script was Thambiran Vanakkam (தம்பிரான் வணக்கம்) (1578), a 16-page translation of the Portuguese "Doctrina Christam", printed at Quilon(Kollam). It was followed by Kirisithiyaani Vanakkam (கிரிசித்தியானி வணக்கம்)(1579). These were works of catechism, containing the basic prayers of Catholicism. Before this 'Cartilha', a Tamil prayer book printed using Latin script, was printed in Lisbon by command of the Portuguese king and financed by the Paravars of Tuticorin who also helped with scholarly assistance. He also printed Flos Sanctorum in Tamil (1586). This book contains the lives of Saints. By his efforts, Tamil became the first non-European language to be printed on a printing press. Hence, he is sometimes referred to as Father of the Tamil press Henriques is the first known European Tamil scholar. Some of his works in the Malabar (Malauar) language (that is, Tamil) are no longer extant, including a work on grammar, a dictionary, a booklet for confession and a religious history from the Creation to the Ascension.

Death Henriques died on 22 February 1600 in a village named Punicale (now Punnaikayal in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu). According to The Jesuit Annual Letter for 1601 ...on the day he died all the Muslims of the neighbouring village Patanam (Kayalpattanam) fasted; the Hindus also of the neighbouring places fasted two days and closed all their shops and bazaars to express their grief over the death of the good and holy old man. So great was the respect and consideration every one had concerning his holiness. His mortal remains were buried in Our Lady of Snows Basilica in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.

Works 1578: Doctrina Christam en Linga Malauar Tamul / Doctrina Cristaã tresladada em lingua Tamul [...]. Impressa em Coulam no Collegio do Saluador. — Only known copy: Houghton Library, Harvard University, GEN Typ 100 578 (digital copy) 1579: Doctrina Christaã, a maneyra de Dialogo [...]. Em Cochim, no Collegio da Madre de Deos. — Known copies: Sorbonne Université (digital copy, original lost), Bodleian Library 1580: Confessionairo. — Known copies: Bodleian Library, Vet. Or. f. Tam. 1., Moscow State University Library. 1586: [Flos sanctorum]. — Known copies: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat.ind.24 (digital copy), Royal Danish Library

See also Printing in Goa Printing in Tamil language Statue of Our Lady of Miracles, Jaffna patao

Notes

References S, Rajamanickam (1968). "Padre Henrique Henriques, the Father of the Tamil Press". Second International Tamil Conference Seminar. International Association of Tamil Research, Madras. Retrieved 27 January 2009. Anderson, Gerald (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8. Perera, Simon Gregory (2004). Jesuits in Ceylon (in the XVI and XVII Centuries). Asian Educational Services. pp. 156. ISBN 978-81-206-1843-5. Various authors (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 2. Sahitya Akademi. p. 1669. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0. Mandal, Ranita (2002). Muhammad Shahidullah & His Contribution To Bengali Linguistics. PhD Thesis, University of Calcutta. pp. Chapter 3. Kalyanasundaram, K. "Literary Contributions of select list of Tamil Scholars from Overseas". TamilLibrary.org. Retrieved 27 January 2009.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Henrique Henriques

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Henrique Henriques claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Henrique Henriques before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Henrique Henriques ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Henrique Henriques

In research: Henrique Henriques appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Henrique Henriques in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Henrique Henriques is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1520 births, 1600 deaths, 16th-century Indian Jesuits, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Henrique Henriques outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Henrique Henriques in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is Henrique Henriques in simple terms?

Why does Henrique Henriques matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Henrique Henriques?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Henrique Henriques.