LOBO, JERONIMO, 1595-1678; b. Lisbon; joined the order of Jesuits in 1609; was made in 1621 professor in the Jesuits' college at Coimbra, but ordered to resign and repair :as a missionary to India, embarked in 1622, and arrived in Goa the same year. In 1624 he left India and went to Abyssinia to Christianize that country, whose ruler had been converted to the Roman Catholic faith by father Paez in 1603. Disembarking on the I coast of 3lombas and vainly attempting to enter Abyssinia by land, he returned, and the next year, renewing.the attempt, lie landed on the coast of the Red sea with -Mendez, ; the patriarch of Ethiopia, and eight missionaries, and reached Fremona, where was the r missionary settlement. Here he remained for several years as superior of the missions in the state of Tigre, and was very- successful. The death of the emperor Segued leaving the Roman Catholics without a protector, Lobo and all the Portuguese, numbering 400, with the patriarch, bishop, and 18 Jesuits, were expelled by his successor from the country-. All fell into the hands of the Turks at 31assowali, and Lobo was sent to India to procure a ransom for his imprisoned associates. He accoinplished his object, but was unsuccessful in his endeavor to induce the Portuguese viceroy to send an arniy against Abyssinia. He then embarked for Portugal, was shipwrecked on the coast of
Natal and captured by pirates. Reaching Lisbon he was sent to "Madrid, as Portugal was then under the king of Spain, and endeavored to enlist the government itt his scheme to convert Abyssinia to the Roman church by force. But neither at Lisbon, Madrid, nor Paris did his plan meet with favor. lie then set out for Rome to lay his favorite idea before the pope, but here also he received no encouragement. Be returned to India in 1640, and became rector and afterwards provincial of the Jesuits at Goa. Returning to Lisbon in 1656 lie engaged in literary pursuits, and iu 1659 published the narrative of his journey to .A.byssinia, entitled Ilistoria de Ethiopia, which was translated into French by the abbe Legrand, who added a continuation of the Roman Catholic missions in Abyssinia after Lobo's departure, and an account of the expedition of Poncet, French surgeon from Egypt. This is followed bv some dissertations on the history, religion, government, ete.,.of Abyssinia. The whole was translated into Eng lish by Dr. Johnson in 1735. Lobo was remarkable for enterprise and perseverance.