Gabriel Mary Allegra was an Italian Franciscan friar and biblical scholar born in 1907. After joining the order and being ordained a priest, he dedicated most of his life to missionary work in China. He is most renowned for his monumental achievement in completing the first full translation of the Bible into Chinese, a task that occupied four decades of his life. Beyond his translation work, he was a respected philosopher and sociologist who served the poor and sick during his time in Asia.