PIJART, PIERRE, priest, Jesuit, missionary; b. 17 May 1608 in Paris, son of Claude Pijart and Geneviève Charon; d. 26 May 1676 at Dieppe.

Pierre Pijart followed his elder brother, Claude Pijart, into the Society of Jesus in Paris 16 Sept. 1629. He studied and taught at Paris, Caen, and La Flèche. Better endowed with practical common-sense than with a talent for study, he did only one year of theology (La Flèche, 1634–35) before setting out for Canada. He reached Quebec 10 July 1635 and immediately departed for the Huron country, which he did not leave for nine years except for a fruitless journey among the Tionnontatés (Tobacco nation) in 1640. In 1644 he was obliged for reasons of health to return and carry on his ministry among the French settlers at Trois-Rivières and Quebec. He was also procurator (treasurer) of the Huron mission until he left for France 23 Aug. 1650.

J. Monet

ACSM, f.99b. JR (Thwaites), VIII, 290; passim. Rochemonteix, Les Jésuites et la Nouvelle-France au XVII^e siècle, I, 409.