Antonio Maria Ceriani (May 2, 1828 – March 2, 1907) was an Italian prelate,

Syriacist Syriac studies is the study of the Syriac language and Syriac Christianity. A specialist in Syriac studies is known as a Syriacist. Specifically, British, French, and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of ...

, and scholar. Ceriani was born at

Uboldo Uboldo ( lmo, Ubold or ''Ambold'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km northwest of Milan and about 25 km southeast of Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= V ...

, in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. He was ordained a priest for his home

diocese of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has l ...

in 1852 and the same year was appointed keeper of the catalogue of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Ambrosian Library) at Milan. From 1857 he was one of the Doctors of the ''Ambrosiana'' of which in January 1870 he became Prefect, a post he kept until his death. Among his additional charges, from 1855 he was professor of oriental languages in the diocesan Major Seminary and from 1872 professor of

paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

. From the 1880s he was in scholarly contact with the English

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

turned liturgical scholar,

John Wickham Legg John Wickham Legg (28 December 1843 – 28 October 1921) was an English physician and a writer on theological subjects, especially ecclesiology and liturgy. Life and career He was the third son of the printer and bookseller George Legg, and ...

. Ceriani discovered the pseudepigraphal apocrypha entitled the '' Assumption of Moses'' (or the ''Testament of Moses'' in modern editions)—a Jewish work that survived in one poorly preserved sixth-century Latin palimpsest in the Ambrosian Library. He published the work in 1861. The edition presented b
The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha
is "identical to Ceriani's excellent transcription of the manuscript.". He also discovered and published in 1866 another apocryphal text, the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch and also a Syriac translation of the fifth column of the Septuagint as preserved in Origen's Hexapla—a photographic edition in 7 volumes, Monumenta sacra et profana, Codex syrohexaplaris Ambrosianus, Milan 1861–1874. Ceriani died at Milan in 1907, leaving as his principal scholarly heir

Achille Ratti Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

, later to become Pope Pius XI.

External links

Ceriani, Antonio Maria
Biography—Associazione Italiana Biblioteche 1828 births 1907 deaths People from the Province of Varese Syriacists Italian philologists 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests {{OrientalOrthodoxy-stub