Died 27 November 1920 | ||
Aquiles Gerste (July 2, 1854 - Nov. 27, 1920) was a Catholic priest, Jesuit, philologist, linguist who is known for his ethnographic and linguistic studies of the indigenous peoples of Mexico.
Gerst entered the Society of Jesus on Oct. 3, 1873 and was ordained a priest ten years later. In 1885 he went to Mexico as a missionary and became prefect of a college at Puebla. He became fluent in French, Latin, Spanish, German and Nahuatl. He became interested in the culture of the Rarámuri people with whom he lived as a missionary.
When he returned to Europe he collaborated with Carlos Sommervogel on the Bibliographie d'auteurs de la Compagnie de Jésus, While in Rome he was elected a corresponding member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua. He died in Rome.