Vaggioli, Domenico Felice

Dom Felice Vaggioli was an Italian Benedictine monk who was sent by his Order in 1879 to New Zealand as a young missionary priest. He became absorbed in and fascinated by the country and its people, the Maori.
At his own expense his monumental two volume History of New Zealand and its Inhabitants (Storia della Nuova Zelanda e dei suoi Abitatori) was published successively in 1891 and 1896 by Fiaccadori Press, Parma.

Maori: A History of the Earliest Inhabitants of New Zealand

2010 0-7734-3905-4
This is a translation from the original Italian of the work of Dom Felice Vaggioli, an Italian Benedictine monk sent by his Order in 1879 to New Zealand. A Papal directive in 1883 asking missionaries to gather artifacts and information concerning indigenous peoples prompted and encouraged Vaggioli to extend and deepen his earlier studies of New Zealand. This text examines Maori life, customs and arts, as described in Vaggioli’s detailed, appreciative and yet frank appraisal, colored by his own world view.