Avril, Philipp

Avril, Philipp a French Jesuit and missionary. lived in the latter half of the 17th century. He was sent by his superiors to penetrate into China, and embarked June 13, 1685, at Leghorn upon a ship destined for Alexandria, and traversed Syria, Kurdistan, Armenia, and Persia; but he was arrested by the governor of Astrachan, who obliged him to return by way of Russia and Poland, and on Sept. 30, 1690, he landed at Toulon. He published his adventures under the title Voyage en divers Etals d'Europe et d'Asie (Paris, 1692). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.