Samuel Fritz
| Samuel Fritz | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 9 April 1654 Trautenau, Bohemia |
| Died | 20 March 1725 or 1730 Jeberos District, Peru |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Alma mater | Charles University in Prague |
| Employer | Society of Jesus |
| Known for | Creating an early map of the Amazon River |
Samuel Fritz (9 April 1654 – 20 March 1725, 1728 or 1730) was a Czech Jesuit missionary, noted for his exploration of the Amazon River and its basin. He spent most of his life preaching to Native American communities in the western Amazon region, including the Omaguas, the Yurimaguas, the Aisuare, the Ibanomas, and the Ticunas. In 1707 he produced the first accurate map of the Amazon River, establishing as its source the Marañón.
Fritz was born at Trautenau, Bohemia. After studying for a year at the Charles University in Prague, he entered the Society of Jesus as a novice in 1673, and studied mathematics, geodesy and surveying. He taught for several years at the Jesuit seminaries in Uherské Hradiště and Březnice, eventually becoming deputy rector at Brno where he also conducted the student orchestra. He was ordained as a priest on 4 February 1683.
In September 1684 he was sent to Quito as a missionary, arriving in Cartagena, Colombia and journeying overland. Some time in 1686 he was assigned to work among the Indians of the Upper Marañon. Between 1686 and 1715, he founded thirty-eight missions along the length of the Amazon River, in the country between the Rio Napo and Rio Negro, that were called the Omagua Missions. The most important of these were Nuestra Señora de las Nieves de Yurimaguas, and San Joaquín de Omaguas, which was founded in the first years of Fritz’s missionary activities and then moved in January 1695 to the mouth of the Ampiyacu river, near the modern-day town of Pebas in the Peruvian Department of Loreto. These missions were continually attacked by the Brazilian Bandeirantes beginning in the 1690s.
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