Ignazio Lomellini (born 1560 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, died 20 May 1645 in Rome) was a Genoese Jesuit priest. He was a member of the illustrious Lomellini noble family in

. Lomellini is known as the author of the little-known ''Animadversiones, Notae ac Disputationes in Pestilentem Alcoranum'' (MS A-IV-4), a 1622 manuscript that is the oldest surviving example of a European translation of the Quran which also includes the complete original Arabic text. The manuscript, written in Latin, was previously owned by

Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist. Life and works Early life Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...

and has been held at the

University of Genoa The University of Genoa, known also with the acronym UniGe ( it, Università di Genova), is one of the largest universities in Italy. It is located in the city of Genoa and regional Metropolitan City of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguri ...

library since 1846. Its rediscovery was noted by Giorgio Levi Della Vida in a 1947 article. The manuscript's

marginalia Marginalia (or apostils) are marks made in the margins of a book or other document. They may be scribbles, comments, glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, drolleries, or illuminations. Biblical manuscripts Biblical manuscripts have ...

contain detailed verse-by-verse commentaries of the original Arabic text. At the time, the Latin translation, though not without problems, was the most accurate translation ever written in a European language. The manuscript was dedicated to Cardinal

Alessandro Orsini Alessandro Orsini (1592–1626) was an Italian Cardinal. He was a patron of Galileo, who dedicated his 1616 work on the tides to him, and requested that he pass it on to Pope Paul V. Orsini belonged to the ducal family of Bracciano. Orsini was ...

. Lomellini died on 20 May 1645 in Rome.

References

1560 births 1645 deaths Writers from the Republic of Genoa 16th-century Genoese people 17th-century Genoese people 16th-century Italian Jesuits 17th-century Italian Jesuits Translators of the Quran into Latin Catholicism and Islam {{Italy-reli-bio-stub

See also

References