GASPAR, Antonio Xiu - A Stan Klos Biography Site
GASPAR, Antonio
Xiu (gas-par'), Maya Indian author (whose original name was CHI XIU;),
born in Yucatan about 1541; died there in the beginning of the 17th century. He
was son of the famous priest Kin-Chi, the grandson of Tutul Xiu, an Indian king,
who was an ally of the Spaniards, and was educated by the missionaries
accompanying an expedition against the hostile Cacomes, under the name of
Antonio Gaspar.
Young Gaspar Xiu soon learned to speak
and write Spanish and Latin, and was very useful to the conquerors as
interpreter. He was appointed public translator by royal order, and did much to
cultivate knowledge among his native people. In his old age he suffered from poverty
and neglect, and by a royal decree of 6 September, 1599, was granted a pension
in consideration of the services he had rendered to the Spaniards.
He wrote "Vocabulario de la lengua Maya,"
which has been lost, and probably no copy exists now. It is cited by Pimentel in
his "Cuadro descriptivo y comparativo de las lenguas indigenas de Mexico," and
by many others. He also published a
"Relación Histórica sobre las Costumbres de los Indios" (1582).
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001
VirtualologyTM
GASPAR, Antonio Xiu (gas-par'), Maya Indian author (whose original name was CHI XIU;), born in Yucatan about 1541 ; died there in the beginning of the 17th century. Iie was son of the famous priest Kin-Chi, the grandson of Tutul Xiu, an Indian king, who was an ally of the Spaniards, and was educated by the missionaries accompanying an expedition against the hostile Cacomes, under the name of Antonio Gaspar. Young Gasloar Xiu soon learned to speak and write Spanish and Latin, and was very useful to the conquerors as interpreter. He was appointed public translator by royal order, and did much to cultivate knowledge among his native people. In his old age he suffered from poverty and neglect, and by a royal decree of 6 September, 1599, was granted a pension in consideration of the services he had rendered to the Spaniards. He wrote "Vocabulario de la lengua Maya," which has been lost, and probably no copy exists now. It is cited by Pimentel in his "Cuadro descriptivo y comparativo de las lenguas indigenas de Mexico," and by many others. He also published a "Relacidn IIistdrica sobre las Costumbres de los Indios" (1582).
