Avencio Villarejo: Misionero en la Selva Baja del Perú 1934-1949

Abstract

Dr. Catherine Heymann, professor at the University of Angers, has been very close to the life and adventure of the Augustinian priest Avencio Villarejo, known by this name in the Amazons. As an assiduous reader of his works, especially of the books, Así es la selva and La aventura de un agustino en la Selva, an Amazonian encyclopedia giving the background of the stories, she penetrates into the interior world of this missionary, highlights his capacity and bravery in traveling through forests and rivers of the low regions between 1934 and 1949. The protagonist of this history analyzes meticulously the most diverse experiences of the people encountered on the journey as well as the diversity of geography, the plants and the animal species. To go through this life requires a great missionary courage in all its different aspects which the author assumes admirably.