Bartomeu Melià
Bartomeu Melià | |
|---|---|
Melià in 2011 | |
| Born | Bartomeu Melià Lliteres December 7, 1932 Porreres, Spain |
| Died | December 6, 2019 (aged 86) Asunción, Paraguay |
| Awards | National Order of Merit Ramon Llull Award Linguapax Prize |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Strasbourg (PhD) |
| Thesis | La creación de un lenguaje cristiano en las misiones de los guaraníes en el Paraguay (1969) |
Bartomeu Melià Lliteres SJ (December 7, 1932 – December 6, 2019) was a Spanish Jesuit, linguist and anthropologist, with Paraguayan citizenship since 2011. He specialized in the study of the Guaraní people and their language. For publicly accusing the Paraguayan government of committing a genocide against its indigenous peoples, he was exiled from the country from 1976 to 1989.
Biography
He was born in Porreres, a Spanish town on the island of Mallorca.
Melià joined the Society of Jesuits on October 15, 1949. He settled in Paraguay in 1954 and was ordained a priest. In 1969, he obtained a doctorate from the University of Strasbourg.[1] He was editor of the current affairs magazine Acción published by the Catholic Church from 1969 to 1974.[2] From 1976 to 1989, he was expelled from Paraguay by the Stroessner regime. He settled in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil during his expulsion.
He was a professor of ethnology and Guarani culture at the Catholic University of Asuncion and was president of the Center for Anthropological Studies.[3]
Awards and honors
He was awarded the Linguapax Prize[4] and the Ramon Llull Award in 2002. He was a member of the Academia Paraguaya de la Lengua Española. He was awarded the National Order of Merit by the Paraguayan government in 2012[5] and an honorary doctorate by the National University of Misiones in 2015.
An award was made in his honor by the Organization of Ibero-American States.[6]
Works
- El Guaraní Conquistado y Reducido: Ensayos de Etnohistoria (1993)
- La Lengua Guaraní en el Paraguay Colonial (2002)
References
- ^ Cleary, Edward L.; Steigenga, Timothy J. (2004). Resurgent Voices in Latin America: Indigenous Peoples, Political Mobilization, and Religious Change. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-3461-9.
- ^ Nickson, R. Andrew (17 June 2015). Historical Dictionary of Paraguay. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-23946-8.
- ^ Carneri, Santi. "Spanish Jesuit, linguist once expelled by dictator, dies in Paraguay". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ "2002 Award | Linguapax International". Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ "Diputados condecoran a Melià - Política - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ "Bartomeu Melià Award Seeks Projects Promoting Intercultural Education And Multilingualism". The Asunción Times. 15 March 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.