Born in
Toulouse, Labrosse joined the
Order of the Discalced Carmelites, and adopted the religious alias "Father Angelus of St. Joseph", which literally translates as "Angel of
Saint Joseph". In 1662, he went to
Rome where he stayed for roughly two years and studied
Arabic. He then travelled to
Isfahan, where he studied
Persian. During his stay in
Iran, from 1664 to 1678, Labrosse tried to use medicine to disseminate Christianity in the country. In 1684, while in the Netherlands, Labrosse published his
Gazophylacium linguae persarum. This work is a Persian dictionary with Italian, Latin and French definitions, that pays special attention to medicine and medicinal substances. In
Safavid Persia: The History and Politics of an Islamic Society, the work is referred to as a "veritable encyclopaedia of Iran, including a few transcriptions that indicate the colloquial pronunciation of the time". As far as eastern languages are concerned; in addition to Arabic and Persian, Labrosse was proficient in Turkish. ==References==