Father Ferdinand Verbiest (1623 –1688) was a Flemish Jesuit
missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt
in the County of Flanders (now part of Belgium). He is known as Nan Huairen (南懷仁)
in Chinese.
He was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer and proved to
the court of the Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than
Chinese astronomy. He then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked
to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory, being given the role
of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.
He became close friends with the Kangxi Emperor, who
frequently requested his teaching, in geometry, philosophy and music.
Verbiest worked as a diplomat and cartographer, and also as
a translator, because he spoke Latin, German, Dutch, Spanish, Hebrew, and
Italian. He wrote more than thirty books.
During the 1670s, Verbiest designed what some claim to be
the first ever self-propelled vehicle – many claim this as the world's first
automobile, in spite of its small size and the lack of evidence that it was
actually built.
Father Verbiest is honoured these days in a beautiful quadrupple Belgian beer: Ferre.
Thanks Frans
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