Nicolas Trigault

Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Walloon Jesuit, and a missionary in China. He was also known by his latinised name Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jin Nige (simplified Chinese: 金尼阁; traditional Chinese: 金尼閣; pinyin: Jīn Nígé).

Born in Douai (then part of the Spanish Netherlands, now part of France), he became a Jesuit in 1594. Trigault left Europe to do missionary work in Asia around 1610, eventually arriving at Nanjing, China in 1611. He was later brought by the Chinese Catholic Li Zhizao to his hometown of Hangzhou where he worked as one of the first missionaries ever to reach that city and was eventually to die there in 1629.

In late 1612 Trigault was appointed by the China Mission's Superior, Niccolo Longobardi as the China Mission's (recruitment and PR representative) in Europe. He sailed from Macau on February 9, 1613, and arrived in Rome on October 11, 1614, by way of India, the Persian Gulf and Egypt. His tasks involved reporting on the mission's progress to Pope Paul V, successfully negotiating with the Jesuit Order's General Claudio Acquaviva the independence of the China Mission from the Japan Mission, and traveling around Europe to raise money and publicize the work of the Jesuit missions.Peter Paul Rubens did a portrait of Trigault on 17 January 1617, when Trigault was either in Antwerp or Brussels (at right).

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