Joseph-Antoine Provana | |
Birth Date: | 17 October 1662 |
Birth Place: | Nice, Duchy of Savoy |
Death Place: | en route from Lisbon to Macau |
Nationality: | Duchy of Savoy |
Other Names: | Antonio Francesco Giuseppe Provana |
Occupation: | Catholic missionary |
Years Active: | 1695 - 1720 |
Known For: | envoy of the Kangxi Emperor to Rome during the Chinese Rites controversy |
Joseph-Antoine Provana (17 October 1662 - 7 February 1720) was a Piedmontese Jesuit missionary to China during the era of the Kangxi Emperor and the Chinese Rites controversy. Provana converted and baptized Louis Fan, the first Chinese known to have traveled to Europe and returned to China. He served as an envoy to Pope Clement XI for the Kangxi emperor and arrived in Rome in 1719.[1] He died on his return journey to China, but his corpse was transported to Guangzhou and buried there.[2]