Francisco Ximénez

Francisco Ximénez (* November 23, 1666 in Seville, † 1721) was a Spanish Dominican friar and historian.

Born in Seville, he arrived in Guatemala in 1687 (then part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain ) to. He learned then the Mayan languages ​​Quiché, Kakchikel and Tzutuhil. During a stay in Chichicastenango in 1702 he was informed by a group of local Indians about the existence of a holy book of the Quiché of the Popol Vuh, which was located under the altar of the Temple of Chichicastenango. Instead the book in accordance with regulations to destroy, he decided to translate it into Latin, to get it for posterity.

Francisco Ximénez is the author of a work on regional history, the Historia de la Provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala de la Orden de Predicadores. Ximénez died in 1721 in Spain.