Mariano Valguarnera (7 October 1564 – 28 August 1634) was an Italian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

, writer and diplomat.

Biography

Mariano Valguarnera was the son of Fabrizio Valguarnera,

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Godrano Godrano ( Sicilian: ''Cutranu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo. Godrano borders the following municipalities: Corleone, Marineo, Mezzojuso Mez ...

. He knew classical and modern languages (

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 ...

, Greek,

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 ...

, French, Spanish), and studied theology, philosophy and mathematics. After the death of his wife he became a priest. In 1629 he participated in a diplomatic mission to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. His diplomatic talent was appreciated by

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

, who made him royal chaplain and

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

. After returning to Italy, he lived at the court of

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

, on whose behalf he translated and commented the works of

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

. He died on August 28, 1634, and was buried in the church of San Domenico in Palermo (the Pantheon of Sicily). His most important work is ''Il Discorso dell'origine ed antichità di Palermo e dei primi abitatori della Sicilia'' (''Discourse on the Origin and Antiquity of Palermo and the first inhabitants of Sicily'') (1614).

Works

* * **

Johann Lorenz von Mosheim Johann Lorenz von Mosheim or Johann Lorenz Mosheim (9 October 1693 – 9 September 1755) was a German Lutheran church historian. Biography He was born at Lübeck on 9 October 1693 or 1694. After studying at the '' gymnasium'' of Lübeck, he ent ...

published a Latin translation of this work, which was included by

Burman Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler *Barney Burman, American make-up artist * Barry Burman (1943–2001), English figurative artist * Ben Lucien Burman (1896–1984), American ...

in the thirteenth volume of his ''Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Siciliae''
online
* ''Memoriale della Deputatione del Regno di Sicilia, e della città di Palermo intorno alla divisione di quel Regno, che tenta la città di Messina, tradotto dalla lingua Spagnola in Italiana dal Dott. D. Francesco Paruta''. Panormi, apud Alphonsum de Isola, 1630, in-fol. *''Epigrammata, & Anagrammata Graeca in Urbani VIII. P. M. laudem''. Panormi apud Angelum Orlandum 1623, in-fol. *

References

1564 births 1634 deaths Writers from Palermo Italian diplomats 17th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian male writers Italian male non-fiction writers {{Italy-diplomat-stub