Joseph Anthony de la Rivière Poncet (b. at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, 17 May 1610; d. at Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, 18 June 1675) was a French Jesuit missionary to Canada.

Life

He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Paris at nineteen, as a student in rhetoric and philosophy. He pursued his studies at Clermont

Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...

, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, and Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

, and taught at Orléans

Orléans

-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

 (1631-4).

In 1638 he met Madame de la Pettrie

Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie

Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny de la Peltrie was a French woman who started the Order of Ursulines of Quebec.Madame Chauvigny was born at Alençon. She arrived in New France with a number of Ursulines including a future nun, Charlotte Barré and Marie de l'Incarnation, who was to be the religious...

 and accompanied her and Marie de l'Incarnation to Canada in the following year. He was sent immediately to the Huron mission.

In 1645 he founded an Algonquin mission on the Island of St. Mary. After returning to Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 he was captured by the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

; he was being tortured when a rescue party arrived in time to save his life. His companion, Mathurin Franchelot, was burned at the stake.

In 1657, as he became involved in ecclesiastical disputes, he was sent back to France. He held the position of French penitentiary at Loreto

Loreto (AN)

Loreto is a hilltown and comune of the Italian province of Ancona, in the Marche. It is mostly famous as the seat of the Basilica della Santa Casa, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site.-Location:...

, and was later sent to the Island of Martinique, where he died.