Born in 1886 in San Remo, Italy, Ernesto Gherzi, S.J. entered the Society of Jesus in Paris in 1903. From 1920 onwards, he studied meteorology with Father Louis Marie Froc, S.J., then head of the Zikawei (Xujiahui) Observatory in China, where Gherzi was sent on mission. At the time, the Jesuit Zikawei Observatory was a renowned research centre active in several fields of geophysics, such as seismology, terrestrial magnetism, atmospheric physics, and meteorology.
Gherzi’s work in radiometeorology provided him with a better understanding of the factors influencing the movement of the three main air masses that determine global atmospheric conditions. The data from his observations enabled him to determine the trajectory of typhoons in the vicinity of Zikawei, on the outskirts of Shanghai, and to provide invaluable information to sailors who had to deal with the difficult conditions of the East China Sea.
Father Gherzi worked at the Zikawei Observatory from 1920 to 1949, including ten years as director. In 1949, however, the new Communist government denied him re-entry to China, forcing him to change his career path. From 1956 onwards, he divided his time between Loyola University in New Orleans and the Observatoire de géophysique at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, where he was hired as Director of Research. He helped to develop the observatory by acquiring a number of scientific instruments and, in 1957, created the Bulletin de géophysique to share his findings. Through his research, he contributed to the observatory’s recognition by the international scientific community.
Jesuit interest in the sciences was not new, and was also reflected in the scientific mission of their colleges. Although the main focus of these colleges was on the humanities, science was part of the curriculum right from the founding of the first Jesuit colleges in Europe in the mid-16th century. Throughout the 20th century, Jesuits built observatories around the world to study sciences such as meteorology, seismology, and geomagnetism. This investment in science enabled the Jesuits to promote the modernity of their vision to the government authorities of the regions in which they were established, and to raise the prestige of the Society of Jesus in the process.
The finding aid for the Ernesto Gherzi, S.J. fonds can be found here (in French).
Discover other fonds relating to the scientific activities of Canadian Jesuits in the Archive’s research guide Jesuits of Canada and the Sciences.
Sources:
Gauvin, J.-F. (2003). La physique du globe tous azimuts: La carrière scientifique d’Ernesto Gherzi, S.J., 1910-1973. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, LXXII (143), 45-80.
Robb, D. (2021, June 17). Trésors d’archives : La vie et la carrière scientifique du père Ernesto Gherzi, s.j. SHEC. https://schec.ca/tresors-darchives-la-vie-et-la-carriere-scientifique-du-pere-ernesto-gherzi-s-j/
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