QUIROGA, VASCO DE

born 1470?, Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile died March 14, 1565, Uruapan, Mex. Spanish bishop and social reformer who founded the Colegio de San Nicols in colonial Mexico. Quiroga was educated for the priesthood and trained as a lawyer at the University of Valladolid. He won early recognition for his erudition at a post in the chancery of Badajoz, where he found great favour with the bishop. He was nominated for the first audiencia to New Spain and arrived in Mexico City in 1531. After founding two hospitals, he was appointed bishop of Michoacn, where he laboured diligently on behalf of the welfare of the Indians, seeking their temporal as well as spiritual salvation. To the latter end, he founded the Colegio de San Nicols to train priests fluent in native Indian languages, and he translated religious works into those languages.