Joseph-François Lafitau (1681–1746)

French Jesuit priest and missionary. Joined the Jesuit ministry at Bordeaux in 1796, and studied rhetoric, philosophy, and theology at Pau, Poitiers, La Fleche, and Paris. Missionary to the Iroquois in Quebec, 1712–17. Discovered ginseng in North America; published his major work on the Iroquois (Moeurs des sauvages amériquains comparées aux moeurs des premiers) in 1724.