Barsanti, Ottavio - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Barsanti, Ottavio - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Category: Other
| Title | Barsanti, Ottavio - Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Author | Hazel Riseborough |
| Year | 1990 |
| Publication | Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography in 1990 |
| Language | English |
| Geographic reference | Auckland, |
| Time reference | 1860s |
| Online resource | YES |
| Topic | Catholic, Priest, biography, Missionaries, Missionari, Clero, Italian Missionaries, Missionari italiani in Nuova Zelanda, Māori, Italian priests in New Zealand, |
A short biography, written by Hazel Riseborough and first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography in 1990. Ottavio Barsanti was born in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, Italy, probably in 1825 or 1826 and arrived in Auckland on 30 December 1860. Within months of his arrival he had crossed swords with Pompallier, the Bishop for Western Oceania, which included New Zealand, who eventually relieved him of the superiorship of the Franciscans. Barsanti left New Zealand for Australia early in 1866 without the permission of either the bishop or his own superiors. He died in Sydney in 1884 after having accumulated a number of testimonies against him, including failure to perform his regular duties, drunkenness, verbal bullying, and at least one case of physical assault. On the basis of his five years in New Zealand Barsanti wrote a book about 'the Protestants among the savages of New Zealand, or the history of Pai Marire' ( I Protestanti tra i selvaggi della Nuova Zelanda, ossia storia del Pai Marire ), his own account of the development of the Pai Marire faith, which flourished in the early to mid 1860s, with the conclusion that it was a result of Protestant teaching (which he considered heresy). The book, which was published in Turin in 1868, is available at the Alexander Turnbull Library, New Zealand Pacific section (viewable in Wellington Reading Room only – click here for more info). Sample pages of the book are available online here.
More info and an image of Barsanti can be found on pages 10-13 of the Journal of the Italian Historical Society, volume 3, no.1, 1995 CO.AS.IT.
