Giovanni Diodati or Deodati (3 June 15763 October 1649) was a Genevan-born Italian

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theologian and translator. His translation of the Bible into Italian from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

sources became the reference version used by

Italian Protestants Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Life

He was born at

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, of a noble family originally from

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

in Italy, exiled on account of its Protestantism. He considered himself an Italian "di nation lucchese", of Lucchese nationality. His father was . The were part of a group of about sixty noble Luchessi families who had emigrated to Geneva, sometimes called the "Italian Cabal". He matriculated at the

Genevan Academy The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

in 1596. At the age of twenty-one he was nominated professor of

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 ...

at Geneva on the recommendation of

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...

. In 1606 he became professor of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, in 1608 pastor, or parish minister, at Geneva, and in the following year he succeeded Beza as professor of theology. As a preacher Diodati was eloquent, and he was sent on a mission to France in 1614. He had previously visited Italy, and made the acquaintance of

Paolo Sarpi Paolo Sarpi (14 August 1552 – 15 January 1623) was a Venetian historian, prelate, scientist, canon lawyer, and statesman active on behalf of the Venetian Republic during the period of its successful defiance of the papal interdict (1605–16 ...

, whom he endeavoured unsuccessfully to engage in a reformation movement. In 1618/9 he attended the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. The fi ...

, and took a prominent part, being one of the six divines appointed to draw up the

Canons of Dort The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Christian doctrine, Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Netherlands, Dut ...

. He sympathized with the condemnation of the

Arminians Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Rem ...

. In 1645 Diodati resigned his professorship, and he died at Geneva on 3 October 1649.

Works

Diodati is chiefly famous as the author of the translation of the Bible into Italian (1603; edited with notes, 1607; revised and with metrical psalter, 1641). He also undertook a translation of the Bible into

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, which appeared with notes in 1644. Among his other works are his ''Annotationes in Biblia'' (1607), of which an English translation (''Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible'') was published in London in 1643 (2nd edition 1648) and various polemical treatises, such as ''De fictitio Pontificiorum Purgatorio'' (1619); ''De justa secessione Reformatorum ab Ecclesia Romana'' (1628); ''De Antichristo'', etc. He also published French translations of Paolo Sarpi's ''History of the Council of Trent'', and of Edwin Sandys's ''Account of the State of Religion in the West''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diodati, Giovanni 1576 births 1649 deaths Theologians from the Republic of Geneva Translators of the Bible into French Translators of the Bible into Italian Participants in the Synod of Dort 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century Italian translators