Angelo Mai

Angelo Mai ( born March 7, 1782 Schilpario, Bergamo Province, Lombardy, † September 8, 1854 in Castel Gandolfo ) was an Italian Cardinal and philologist.

Life

In 1799 he joined the Jesuits and in 1804 became a teacher of Classics at the College in Naples. After he had completed his education at the Collegium Romanum, he lived for some time as a teacher in Orvieto, where he dealt with palaeographical studies. The political events of 1808 forced him to withdraw from Rome, where he had returned in the meantime, to Milan. There he was appointed curator of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana 1813.

With the energy and enthusiasm of his own, he now turned to the study of the numerous manuscripts that were entrusted to him, and was to return a significant number of long -lost works in the course of the next six years to be able, in the world. After his resignation from the Society of Jesus he was called in 1819 as Prefect of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome. In 1833 he was transferred to the Secretariat of the Congregation de propaganda fide and collected on February 2, 1838 cardinal with the title of Santa Anastasia church. Angelo Mai took part in the Conclave of 1846, Pius IX the. elected pope. 1851-1853, Cardinal May held the office of Prefect of the Congregation Council. He died in Castel Gandolfo and was buried in his titular church of S. Anastasia.

Services

Angelo corn fame is mainly based on his abilities as cryptanalysts of palimpsests. From his time in Milan come from:

  • Fragments of Cicero's Pro Scauro, Pro Tullio, Pro Flacco, In Clodium et Curionem, De aere alieno Milonis, De brisk Alexandrino, 1814;
  • M. Corn. Frontonis opera inedita, cum epistolis item ineditis, Antonini Pii, Marci Aurelii, Lucii Veri et APPIANI, 1815; New edition 1823 with over 100 other letters from a manuscript in the Vatican Library;
  • Parts of eight speeches of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus;
  • Fragments of Plautus;
  • Isaeus ' speech about the legacy of Cleonymus;
  • The last nine books of the historical work of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, as well as a number of other works.

From the time in Rome come from:

  • M Tullii Ciceronis de republica quae super sunt and thus a significant part of the long-lost state theory Cicero, discovered in 1819
  • Fragmenta Vaticana quae dicuntur, discovered in 1820
  • Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, e Vaticanis codicibus edita, 1825-1838
  • Classici Scriptores e Vaticanis codicibus editi, 1828-1838
  • Spicilegium Romanum, 1839-1844
  • Nova Patrum Bibliotheca, 1845-1853.

His edition of the Codex Vaticanus, completed in 1838, allegedly because of inaccuracies but not until 1858 - four years after his death - published, is the least satisfactory of his works, and in 1868 replaced by the output of Vercellone and Cozza, the self but also many wishes left open.

Although Angelo Mai was not successful as a textual critic, but as cryptanalysts of manuscripts, he will remain as enduring and persistent pioneer in memory whose efforts preserved many ancient writings from oblivion.

After the discovery of Cicero's De re publica him devoted to the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi, a canzone.

Italy Cardinal (Catholicism) Philology Papal conclave, 1846 Marcus Cornelius Fronto Integrated Authority File
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