Cavazzi was an indifferent student and was almost denied a position in the central African mission, but eventually prevailed thanks to his piety.

A Capuchin Franciscan priest, he arrived in Luanda in 1654 and was dispatched to the Portuguese possessions in the eastern end of the colony.

[2] Cavazzi is famous for his descriptive history, Istorica Descrizione de' tre regni Congo, Matamba ed Angola.

[4] In 1969, Giuseppe Pistoni discovered the original manuscripts of Cavazzi's work, written in Africa in 1668 among the papers of the Araldi Family of Modena.

[7] In addition to his extensive history, Cavazzi reedited some of his missionary biographies, found in both the Araldi MSS and in Istorica Descrizione into a new text, "Vite dei Frati Minori Cappuccini del Ordine del Serafica Padre San Francisco, morti nelle Missioni d'Etiopia dall'anno 1645 sino all'anno 1677.