Foucauld, Charles, vicomte de [key], 1858–1916, French priest and missionary in the Sahara. After a career as an army officer and an explorer in Algeria and Morocco, he entered a Trappist monastery in 1890. In 1901 he was ordained and volunteered to go to the Sahara under the patronage of the White Fathers (the Society of Missionaries of Africa). In 1905 he went to Algeria and lived among the Tuareg. He settled near the small village of Tamanrasset, where he produced his studies of Tuareg language and literature. He was killed when the desert tribes revolted against France. Foucauld is revered for the sincerity of his vocation.
See his Spiritual Autobiography, ed. and annotated by J. F. Six (tr. 1964); biography by M. L. Trouncer (1972).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches: General Biographies
