He was born in 1760 in
Molini di Triora. His parents were Antonio Maria Lantrua and Maria Pasqua Ferraironi. His name at birth was
Francesco Maria Lantrua. He joined the
Franciscan Order in 1777 in Rome and became a friar in with the name of Giovanni (John). He was ordained to the priesthood in 1784 and became a teacher of theology in
Tivoli and
Tarquinia. Later he became responsible for the convents of Tarquinia,
Velletri and
Montecelio. In 1799, he went as a missionary to
China. He first arrived in
Macao and learned Chinese. He adopted Chinese culture and dressed in Chinese clothes. He later went to serve as a missionary in
Shaanxi and later in
Hunan in 1812. In 1815, during the persecution of the
Jiaqing Emperor, he was arrested and put in prison. He was tortured and told to renounce his faith. He was later executed by strangulation on February 7th 1816 in
Changsha. ==Canonization==