Thomas Stephens (Jesuit)

This article is about the Jesuit priest. For other people named Thomas Stevens, see Thomas Stevens.
Thomas Stephens
Portrait of Thomas Stephens
Bornc. 1549
Bushton, Wiltshire, England
Died1619 (aged 69–70)

Thomas Stephens SJ (c. 1549 – 1619) was an English Jesuit priest, missionary, writer, and linguist of Marathi and Konkani in Portuguese India. Educated at Oxford, he was one of the earliest Western Christian missionaries to early modern India. He, along with Roberto de Nobili, helped in converting the top class of Indian society by adopting local practices and writing books in local languages, to appeal to the local people. He is famous for having written the Krista Purana (Story of Christ) laid down in meters of bhakti poetry.

In Portuguese, he was known as Tomás Estevão, or alternatively Tomás Esteves.

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