1908 - Gustave Behr

May 26, 1908

Batang, Sichuan

Gustave Behr.

Gustave Behr was born in Paris on June 9, 1882. His mother was a Swiss Protestant. He grew up in wealthy surroundings until his father died, leaving his mother to provide for the family. As a teenager Behr entered the Benedictine college, and in 1901 he commenced studies at the seminary of the Missions Etrangères de Paris (Paris Foreign Missionary Society). After graduating as a priest, Behr departed for the isolated and difficult mission station of Batang in the foothills of Tibet. As his ship started out for the Orient on April 25, 1906, the 25-year-old missionary knew he would probably never see his homeland again. Batang had seen a succession of missionaries die from violence or illness since its founding. Mussot and Soulié had been the most recent recruits buried there the previous year, and Behr was making his way to Batang to replace the martyrs. A colleague said of him,

“Behr was a man of conscience and of rule. He was endowed of a sympathetic nature which moved him to compassion. There was nothing he would not do to help the poor and needy. He was a patient man, and was always found with a smile on his face and in a jovial mood. Above all these characteristics, Gustave Behr displayed a deep personal holiness and consecration to Jesus Christ.”[1]

After months of arduous travel, Behr arrived at Batang and was warmly welcomed by the other missionaries. He was slow in acquiring the Khampa Tibetan language. His adventurous spirit meant he was happier exploring the surrounding countryside than engaging in study. On May 26, 1908, Gustave Behr left the mission station for a small walk around the town. He was seen strolling across the bridge behind the Buddhist monastery. By evening Behr had not returned and his co-workers were concerned. They launched a search, but no trace of the young Frenchman was found. It was not until nine days later that his corpse was fished out of the river a considerable distance downstream. The local magistrate conducted an autopsy with the help of Protestant doctor Albert Shelton. They found suspicious contusions on Behr’s body which appeared he had been struck dead before being thrown into the river in a bid to make it look like a drowning accident. Nobody was charged with the priest’s murder, but he became yet another in a long list of missionary martyrs in Batang.

1. My translation of the Gustave Behr Obituary in the Archives des Missions Etrangères de Paris, China Biographies and Obituaries, 1900-1999.