Louis Bertrand
January 1, 1526 AD — October 9, 1581 AD · Feast day: October 9
A Valencia Dominican with a raucous voice and famously poor memory, Louis Bertrand sailed to Colombia in 1562 and reportedly baptized over 30,000 people in seven years — preaching in Spanish while, per his canonization document, being understood in every native tongue. He returned to Spain not as a colonial hero but as a defender of those he had served, dying quietly in Valencia on the feast day the Church would one day assign him.