João Ferreira de Almeida

João Ferreira de Almeida Anne (* 1628 in Torre de Tavares, Circle Mangualde, † 1691 in Java, Indonesia ) was a Portuguese missionary and translator.

Born as the son of Catholic parents, and with a Catholic education, he turned in later years Protestantism. He left early as a missionary to Asia, into what is now Indonesia.

Because the Bible had been previously translated only into small pieces into Portuguese ( the first book of Moses, of D.Dinis in the 13th century for the first time ), and the fairs were still held in Latin, it was Almeida's translation of the entire Bible extensively, the book in the local language made ​​available for the first time. Almeida worked since he was 16 ( 1644) on the translation, which he had completed up to a few parts when he died in 1691. It was the most popular book in Portuguese, with more than 1,000 runs and an estimated total circulation of about 100 million. It was instrumental in the spread of the Portuguese.

In 2007, organized by the public service broadcaster RTP ​​vote for the " greatest Portuguese of all time" (Os Grandes Portugueses ) Almeida was elected to 19th place.