Melchiorre or Melchior Zoppio (c. 1544–1634) was an Italian doctor and scholar.

Life

Born in

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 ...

, a son of

Girolamo Zoppio Girolamo Zoppio (date unknown - 5 June 1591) was a 16th-century Bolognese writer. A street in Bologna and a lecture hall in the University of Bologna both bear his name. Life He was born in Bologna, and began his career as a doctor and joined the ...

, Melchiorre Zoppio followed his father's dual career in medicine and education. He taught philosophy in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

then Bologna, where in 1588 he was one of the founders of the Academia di Gelati. He was one of that society's keenest members, adopting the name Caliginoso within it and leaving it a room for its meetings in his will. Over the fifty years he served as a professor in Bologna Melchiorre acquired such a reputation that his colleagues honoured him with a public inscription during his lifetime. His funeral involved an elaborate procession to the

Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi Santa Maria dei Servi is a Roman Catholic basilica in Bologna, Italy. It was founded in 1346, as the church of the Servite Community of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was designed by Andrea da Faenza, a head friar and architect who also assisted An ...

, where he was buried, and a eulogy by his colleague André Torelli.

Works

Among many treatises on scholastic philosophy and some pamphlets, whose titles can be found in the ''Scrittori bolognesi'' by Orlandi, Melchior also wrote two comedies and four tragedies. The comedies were '' Diogene accusato'' (Venice, 1598, in-12), written in verses of five, seven and nine syllables, and ''Il Giuliano'', whilst the tragedies were ''

Admeto ' ("Admetus, King of Thessaly", HWV 22) is a three-act opera written for the Royal Academy of Music with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Francesco Haym. The story is partly based on Eur ...

'', ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'', ''

Creusa In Greek mythology, Creusa (; grc, Κρέουσα ''Kreousa'' "princess") may refer to the following figures: * Creusa, a naiad daughter of Gaia. * Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens and his wife, Praxithea. * Creusa, also known by t ...

'' and '' Meandro'' (all

, 1629, in-12). He also left behind many works in manuscript form, including six large folio volumes on philosophical matters. Ghilini called Melchior a microcosm of sciences and letters and gave him and his father pieces in his ''Teatro d'uomini letterati''. Ghilini, , volume 2, p. 156

References

* "Melchiorre Zoppio", in Louis-Gabriel Michaud
''Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne : histoire par ordre alphabétique de la vie publique et privée de tous les hommes avec la collaboration de plus de 300 savants et littérateurs français ou étrangers''
2nd edition, 1843–1865 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zoppio, Melchior 1544 births 1634 deaths 16th-century Italian physicians 17th-century Italian physicians Italian dramatists and playwrights Academic staff of the University of Macerata Italian philosophers Physicians from Bologna