Diego de Pantoja

Who was Diego de Pantoja?

Diego de Pantoja or Diego Pantoja was a Spanish Jesuit and missionary to China who is best known for having accompanied Matteo Ricci in Beijing. His name also appears in some sources as Didaco Pantoia.

He arrived in Portuguese Macau on 20 July 1597, where he received his final instructions for his work in China at São Paulo Jesuit University. He was then sent to the Ming dynasty's southern capital, Nanjing, where he stayed from March 1600. He worked together with Matteo Ricci. Together, they left Nanjing on 19 May 1600 and arrived at the Ming dynasty's Northern and overall capital, Beijing, on 24 January 1601.

He worked in Beijing for many years, among others, as a musician, astronomer and geographer.

On 18 March 1617 he was tried as an enemy of the Chinese astronomers and was expelled from China, along with his colleague Sabatino de Ursis, and settled down in Macao, where he stayed for the short time before his death.