St Columban
The missionary from Ireland (died AD 615)
Unlike his associates Gall and Sigisbert, St Columban of Luxeuil did not settle in Switzerland but finally moved to Bobbio in Italy after founding various monasteries in central Europe. He died there on 23 November 615 as abbot of the monastery he had founded. However, Columban did do missionary work together with his associates at different places in Switzerland. Columban is venerated as a saint (23 November) mainly in the Dioceses of Chur and St. Gallen; it was there that his associates laid the foundations as missionaries and hermits for the founding of monasteries later (Gall in St. Gallen, Sigisbert in Disentis). <More>