Girolamo de Angelis was an Italian Jesuit missionary born in Sicily in 1567. After studying law in Palermo, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1586 and eventually joined a mission to Japan. His initial voyage from Lisbon was delayed by storms, leading him through Brazil, Puerto Rico, and England. He eventually reached Nagasaki in 1602 and later became the first European to reach the Ainu people in Hokkaido. He was executed in Edo in 1623 after surrendering to authorities to protect his converts from persecution.