Saint Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506, Javier, Navarre – 3 December, 1552, Shangchuan Island, China) was a Spanish pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Navarrese origin and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Asian Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India (in Goa), but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas, and other areas which had thus far not been colonized. In these areas, being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local language of the indigenous people in the face of o