Ilias Miniatis ( el, Ηλίας Μηνιάτης) (1669 at

Lixouri Lixouri ( el, Ληξούρι) is a town and a municipality in the island of Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands of western Greece. It is the main town on the peninsula of Paliki, and the second largest town in Kefalonia after Argostoli ...

– 1714 at Patras) was a Greek clergyman, writer and preacher. At the

Flanginian School The Flanginian School ( el, Φλαγγίνειος Σχολή, it, Collegio Flanginiano) was a Greek educational institution that operated in Venice, Italy, from 1664-1665 to 1905. The Flanginian produced several teachers that contributed to the ...

he learned

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and became interested in mathematics and philology. He was ordained very early. He preached God's word at his home island, Cephalonia, at

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Z ...

, at Corfu and at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. His preachings are considered exemplars for modern ecclesiastical rhetoric. As of his language, it is simple

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

and his style has something dramatical and hymnographic. His eloquent preachings are collected into the book "Διδαχαί" (Teachings), first published at Venice on 1725. An older book is "Η Πέτρα του Σκανδάλου" (The Start of the Scandal) about the

Photian schism The Photian Schism was a four-year (863–867) schism between the episcopal sees of Rome and Constantinople. The issue centred on the right of the Byzantine Emperor to depose and appoint a patriarch without approval from the papacy. In 857, Ig ...

. Many historians consider him a student of Frangiscos Scoufos and others an imitator of Paolo Segneri. With his speeches he helped the development of ecclesiastical rhetoric and the configuration of Modern Greek language.

References

Τσουράκης, Διονύσιος (1997). ''Βιογραφίες Ελλήνων Λογοτεχνών και Συγγραφέων'', pp. 246–247 {{DEFAULTSORT:Miniatis, Ilias 1669 births 1714 deaths 18th-century Greek people Greek religious writers People from Paliki Greek bishops 17th-century Greek writers 17th-century Greek educators 17th-century Greek scientists 18th-century Greek writers 18th-century Greek educators 18th-century Greek scientists