The life of Cardinal Mezzofanti: With an introductory memoir of eminent linguists, ancient and modernRussell, Charles William
History
The life of Cardinal Mezzofanti: With an introductory memoir of eminent linguists, ancient and modern
Russell, Charles William
Linguists; Mezzofanti, Giuseppe, 1774-1849
The same may be said of the Oratorian, Valperga de Galuso. He was born at
Turin in 1737, but lived chiefly in the convents of his order at Naples,
Malta, and Rome. In addition, however, to his accomplishments as an
Orientalist, Padre de Galuso had the reputation of being one of the most
skilful mathematicians of his day. He died in 1815.
Our information regarding the two De Rossi’s, Ignazio, author of the
_Etymologicum Copticum_, and Giambernardo, of Parma, is more detailed and
more satisfactory.
Ignazio de Rossi was born at Viterbo in 1740, and entered the Jesuit
society at a very early age. In the schools of Macerata, Spoleto, and
Florence, he was employed in teaching the Humanities and Rhetoric until
the suppression of the order in 1773; after which event he repaired
to Rome, and received an appointment as professor of Hebrew in the
University, which he held for thirty years, rejoining his brethren,
however, at the first moment of their restoration under Pius VII.
As a general scholar, Father De Rossi was one of the first men of his
day. His memory may be ranked among the most prodigious of which any
record has been preserved. On one occasion, during the _villeggiatura_
at Frascati, it was tried by a test in some respects the most wonderful
which has ever been applied in such cases. A line being selected at
pleasure from any part of any one of the four great Italian classics,
Dante, Petrarca, Tasso, and Ariosto, De Rossi immediately repeated
the hundred lines _which followed next in order_ after that which had
been chosen; and, on his companions expressing their surprise at this
extraordinary feat (which he repeated several times), he placed the
climax to their amazement by reciting _in the reverse order_ the hundred
lines immediately _preceding_ any line taken at random from any one of
the above-named poets.[67] His reputation as an Orientalist was founded
chiefly upon his familiarity with Hebrew and the cognate languages. But
he was also a profound Coptic scholar; and it is a subject of regret to
many students of that language that his numerous MSS. connected therewith
have been suffered to remain so long unpublished. He died in 1824.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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