De Bárcena was a native of
Baeza in
Andalusia, southern Spain, born in 1528; he died at Cuzco, Peru on 15 January 1598. He became a Jesuit in 1565, and went to Paris in 1569. He was first destined for the missions of
Heartier, whence he was ordered (1577) to Juli, on the shores of
Lake Titicaca in Southern Peru. He became one of the founders of this important mission. Barcena remained in Central
Bolivia for eleven years, when the
Provincial Juan de Atienza sent him to
Tucuman in
Argentina. His work among the various tribes of that region and of
Paraguay continued until 1593, when he was made
Commissary of the
Inquisition in those provinces. Exhausted physically by his long and arduous labors, Barcena died at
Cuzco in Peru. ==Writings==