Wojciech Męciński

Wojciech Męciński, nicknamed Alberto Polacco (born 1598 in Osmolice – died 23 March 1643 in Nagasaki) was a Polish Catholic Jesuit missionary from Kraków, widely believed to be the first Pole to visit south-eastern Asia.

In 17th century, he visited Vietnam in a tour through Asia, and had documented about Vietnam as the first Polish official record of the country.[1]

It is believed that he was the first documented case of a Pole setting foot into the Philippines.[2] In 1642, Męciński arrived in Manila from Vietnam along with a large group of fellow Jesuits, where they were greeted by Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera. Męciński stayed in Manila for a few months before he was deployed on his second visit to Japan.[2]

After arriving in Japan in 1642, being the first Pole to do, upon his second visit he was quickly caught, tortured and martyred.[3]

References

1. "Misje Jezuici: Wojciech Męciński". 2012.
2. Kaluszki, Marian. "Śladami Polaków po świecie: Polacy na Filipinach" (PDF) (in Polish). Przegląd Australijski. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
3. Łukasz Zalesiński (2 November 2023), "Pierwszy Polak w Japonii. Dla Europejczyka podróż tam była prawie jak wyrok śmierci", onet.pl (in Polish), Onet Podróże

Bibliography

• Marcin Czermiński [pl], Życie ks. Wojciecha Męcińskiego, Kraków, 1895.
• Hagiografia polska II, s. 124–137.
• W. Padacz, Z polskiej gleby, Kraków, 1973, s. 446–461.
• Olga Kucharczyk: Herby przedstawicieli nacji polskiej na Uniwersytecie Padewskim. Katalog znaków heraldycznych. 2023, s. 340. ISBN 978-83-66172-60-9.
• Biuletyn Informacyjny: Epizody w relacjach japońsko-polskich, publisher: Japanese Embassy in Poland, access date 31.01.2021
• Conrad Totman, Historia Japonii, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 2009
• Dorota Hałasa, Zygmunt Kwiatkowski, Chrystus w kraju samurajów, Wydawnictwo R-ka 2004