Niccola Francesco Ippolito Baldassarre Rosellini, known simply as Ippolito RoselliniBardelli 1843, p. 4 (13 August 1800 – 4 June 1843) was an

Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

. A scholar and friend of

Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 17904 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in th ...

, he is regarded as the founder of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

in Italy., p. 253

Biography

He was born in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, eldest son of a family originally from

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

. After studying

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and graduating in theology at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

in 1821, Rosellini studied

oriental languages A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turk ...

under

Giuseppe Mezzofanti Giuseppe Gasparo Mezzofanti (17 September 1774 – 15 March 1849) was an Italian cardinal and famed hyperpolyglot. Life Born to humble parents in Bologna, he showed exceptional mnemonic skills as well as a flair for music and foreign languag ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

until 1824, when he became professor of the same subject at the University of Pisa. He was the first disciple, a great friend and an associate of

. They met in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in August 1825, during Champollion's journey to study the important Egyptological collections in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Rome and

. In 1827, he went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for a year in order to improve his knowledge of the method of decipherment proposed by Champollion. Here, he met and then married Zenobia, daughter of the Italian composer

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

. A year later, Rosellini accompanied Champollion in the latter's

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian exploration also known as the Franco-Tuscan expedition, as the leader of the Tuscan group (1828–29). The expedition was financed by the

Grand-duke of Tuscany The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region. Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface :These were origin ...

, Leopold II, and King

Charles X of France Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia-plate-0018

Champollion's sudden death in 1832 left to the saddened Rosellini the whole responsibility of publishing the report of the expedition: between 1832 and 1843 he exposed the results in his most famous work, ''I Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia'', composed of three parts and nine volumes for a total of 3,300 text pages and 395 illustrated plates. Since 1836, Rosellini's health started to decline possibly due to

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, which ultimately led to his death on 4 June 1843 in Pisa. All his papers were donated to the library of the University of Pisa, while the last volume of the ''Monumenti'' was published posthumously in 1844. Three years after his death, his widow married his brother Ferdinando Pio, a mathematician, who adopted their three sons.

Selected works

* 1826. ''Di un bassorilievo egiziano della imp. e r. Galleria di Firenze'' * 1830.
Breve notizia degli oggetti di antichità egiziane riportate dalla Spedizione letteraria toscana in Egitto e nella Nubia, eseguita negli anni 1828-29 ed esposti al pubblico nell'Accademia delle arti e mestieri in S. Caterina
' * 1832-44. ''I Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia, disegnati dalla spedizione scientifico-letteraria Toscana in Egitto: distribuiti in ordine di materie, interpretati ed illustrati'' **1832.
Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo I
' **1833.
Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo II
' **1834.
Parte II. Monumenti civili, tomo I
' **1834.
Parte II. Monumenti civili, tomo II
' **1836. ''Parte II. Monumenti civili, tomo III'' **1838.
Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo III, parte I
' **1839.
Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo III, parte II
' **1839.
Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo IV
' **1841. ''Parte I. Monumenti storici, tomo V'' **1844 (posthumous).
Parte III. Monumenti di culto, tomo unico
' * 1837.
Elementa Linguae Aegyptiacae, vulgo Copticae
' (ed. by L.M. Ungarelli).

References

Bibliography

* ;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosellini, Ippolito 1800 births 1843 deaths People from Pisa Deaths from malaria Italian Egyptologists 19th-century Italian writers 19th-century male writers Writers from Tuscany 19th-century archaeologists University of Pisa alumni University of Pisa faculty Italian librarians