Vittorio or Victorio Riccio or Ricci OP (18 January 1621 – 17 February 1685) was an Italian Dominican missionary, scholar and diplomat in the Philippines and south-east China, later named the first Prefect Apostolic of Terra Australis.
[2] In 1655 he transferred to the Dominican mission in Amoy (Xiamen), where he formed a close alliance with Koxinga, the ruler of Fujian.
In 1676 Riccio, then prior of the St Dominic Monastery in Manila, wrote to the College of Propaganda Fide in Rome on the opportunities for evangelisation in the unknown continent of Terra Australis to the south of the Philippines.
Based on reports from Dutch sailors, he enclosed a map showing the continent stretching to the South Pole and beyond.
[6] He requested that he be appointed Prefect Apostolic of Terra Australis to initiate missionary activity there.