Nikolaos Sophianos ( el, Νικόλαος Σοφιανός; c. 1500 – after 1551) was a
Greek Renaissance humanist and
cartographer
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
chiefly noted for his ''
Totius Graeciae Descriptio
Totius Graeciae Descriptio refers to an early antiquarian map of Greece drawn by Renaissance humanist Nikolaos Sophianos that became a cartographical bestseller of the late 16th century. It is eight pages and shows Greece from mythical times to th ...
'' map and his grammar of
Greek. He was born into the local nobility of
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
at the beginning of the 16th century and was educated at the Greek
Quirinal College in Rome, co-founded by another Greek scholar,
Janus Lascaris, who also became his teacher along with
Arsenius Apostolius. Sophianos did not return to live in
Greece; only briefly visiting in 1543. He spent the rest of his life in
Rome where he became a
librarian, and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
where he worked as a copyist. His cartographical work was published in 1540.
[Robert Browning, ''Medieval and Modern Greek'', 1983, p. 93]
Known works
*''He Grammatike tes Koines Ton Hellenon Glosses''-a Greek grammar
*
Totius Graeciae Descriptio
Totius Graeciae Descriptio refers to an early antiquarian map of Greece drawn by Renaissance humanist Nikolaos Sophianos that became a cartographical bestseller of the late 16th century. It is eight pages and shows Greece from mythical times to th ...
-a historical map of Greece
References
External links
*
World Digital Library presentation o
''Nicolai Gerbelij in descriptionem Graeciae Sophiani, praefatio'' or ''Preface of Nicolas Gerbelius to Sophianos’s Description of Greece''. Library of Congress. Panoramic map image of Sophianos’s only known cartographic work of his native country.
See also
*
Greek scholars in the Renaissance
16th-century Greek people
Greek Renaissance humanists
1500s births
Modern Greek language
Year of death unknown
Greek_cartographers
16th-century Greek educators
People from Corfu
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