Johann Jakob Baegert

He is noted for his detailed and acerbic account of the peninsula, the culture of its native inhabitants, and the history of its Spanish exploration and missionization.

Baegert began his Jesuit novitiate at Mainz in 1736 and received further training at Mannheim and Molsheim.

After serving briefly as a professor at the college in Haguenau, he was assigned to missionary work in the New World.

Baegert served at San Luis Gonzaga for the next 17 years, also functioning as a time as the Superior for the California missions.

As a non-Spanish subject, Baegert traveled back to Sélestat and ultimately settled at Neustadt an der Weinstraße 1770, where he worked as a priest and teacher until he died.