Louis Maracci
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Louis(or Ludovico) Maracci (1612-1700) was an Italian Catholic priest who translated the Qur'an into Latin in 1698 in Padua. It was the third Translation of the Qur'an into Latin. The first translation in Latin was made by Robertus Rotenesis and Hermannus Dalmatin in 1143 followed by the work of Marco de Toledo in 1209 or 1210. Maracci was the confessor of Pope Innocent XI and was taught Arabic by a Turk. He dedicated his work to the holy Roman Emperor Leopold I.
[edit] Personal Life
He was born at Lucca in 1612, and first obtained notice by the share which he had in the Roman edition of the Arabic Bible, published in 1671. He taught Arabic for many years with great distinction in the University of the Sapienza at Rome. But his best celebrity is due to his critical edition of the Qur'an with a refutation and commentary[1]Maracci held that Mohammed and Mohammedanism were not very dissimilar to Luther and Protestantism. George Sale's English translation of the Qur'an was done by using Maracci's Latin work.
