Giuseppe Simone Assemani

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Giuseppe Simone Assemani
Titular Archbishop of Tyre
Church Maronite Church
Orders
Consecration 7 December 1766
Personal details
Born 27 August 1687
Hasroun, Lebanon
Died 13 January 1768
Rome

Giuseppe Simone Assemani (or Yusuf ibn Sim'an as-Sim'ani, English: Joseph Simon Assemani, Latin: Ioseph Simonius Assemanus), 1687–1768, was a Lebanese Maronite orientalist.

Life

Giuseppe Simone Assemani was born on 27 August 1687 in Hasroun, Mount Lebanon.[1] When very young he was sent to the Maronite College in Rome, and was transferred thence to the Vatican library. He was ordained priest on 21 September 1710.[2] In 1717 he was sent to Egypt and Syria to search for valuable manuscripts, and returned with about 150 very choice ones. In 1735 Pope Clement XII sent him again to the East where he presided over the 1736 Maronite Synod of Mount-Lebanon, which laid the foundations for the modern Maronite Church. He returned with a still more valuable collection. He later played a significant role in mediating several crises in the Maronite Church hierarchy by virtue of his influence in Rome and his knowledge of the Maronite Church.

On his return he was made, in 1739, First Librarian of the Vatican library. As reward of his activity he was consecrated titular archbishop of Tyre on 7 December 1766.[1] by Prince Henry Cardinal Stuart, Duke of York. He died in Rome on 13 January 1768.

His brother and nephew were also noted orientalists.

Works

When appointed librarian of the Vatican library he instantly began to carry into execution most extensive plans for editing and publishing the most valuable manuscript treasures of the Vatican. His main work is:

  • Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana in qua manuscriptos codices Syriacos, Arabicos, Persicos, Turcicos, Hebraicos, Samaritanos, Armenicos, Aethiopicos, Graecos, Aegyptiacos, Ibericos, et Malabaricos, jussu et munificentia Clementis XI Pontificis Maximi ex Oriente conquisitos, comparatos, et Bibliotecae Vaticanae addictos Recensuit, digessit, et genuina scripta a spuriis secrevit, addita singulorum auctorum vita, Joseph Simonius Assemanus, Syrus Maronita (Rome, 1719–1728), 9 vols folio

Of the Bibliotheca the first three vols only were completed. The work was to have been in four parts:

  1. Syrian and allied manuscripts, orthodox, Nestorian and Jacobite
  2. Arabian manuscripts, Christian and Islam
  3. Coptic, Aethiopic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts
  4. Syrian and Arabian manuscripts not distinctively theological

Only the first part was completed, but extensive preparations were made for the others. There is a German abridgment by August Friedrich Pfeiffer (Erlangen 1770-77) and a Reprint (Hildesheim, New York: Olms o.J. ca. 1990).

Other works are:

  • Ephraemi Syri opera omnia quae extant, Gr., Syr., et Lat., 6 vols. folio (Rome, 1737–1746)
  • Italicae historiae scriptores ex bibliothecae Vaticanae aliarumque insignium Bibliothecarum manuscriptis codicibus collegit, e praefationibus, notisque illustravit Joseph Simonius Assemanus. Romae, ex typographia Komarek apud Angelum Rotilium, 1751.
  • Codex canonum Ecclesiae graecae. Romae, ex typographia Komarek, 1762.
  • De scriptoribus Syris orthodoxis. Romae, typis Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1719.
  • Bibliotheca juris orientalis canonici et civilis auctore Josepho Simonio Assemano. (5 voll.) Romae, ex typographia Komarek, 1762-1766.
  • Italicae historiae scriptores ex Bibliothecae Vaticanae, aliarumque insignium bibliothecarum manuscriptis codicibus collegit & praefationibus, notisque illustravit Joseph Simonius Assemanus ... De rebus Neapolitanis et Siculis, ab anno Christi quingentesimo ad annum millesimum ducentesimum. (4 voll.) Romae, ex typographia Komarek, apud Angelum Rotilium, Linguarum Orientalium Typographum, 1751-1753.
  • Josephi Simoni Assemani De Syris monophysitis dissertatio. Romae, ex typographia Sacrae Congregationis de propaganda fide, 1730.
  • Josephi Simonii Assemani Quae hactenus typis prodierunt opera omnia. Romae, ex typographia Angeli Rotilii, & Philippi Bacchelli, e regione domus PP. Theatinorum S. Andreae de Valle, 1751.
  • Kalendaria Ecclesiae universae, in quibus tum ex vetustis marmoribus, tum ex codicibus, tabulis, parietinis, pictis, scriptis, scalptisve, sanctorum nomina,imaagines, et festi per annum dies Ecclesiarum Orientis, et Occidentis praemissis uniuscujusque Ecclesiae originibus recensentur, describuntur, notisque illustrantur. (6 voll.) Roma, sumptibus Fausti Amidei ..., 1755.
  • Rudimenta linguae Arabicae cum catechesi christiana.... Romae, typis Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1732.
  • Nuova grammatica per apprendere agevolmente la lingua greca composta da monsignor Giuseppe Simonio Assemani. (2 voll.) In Urbino, nella stamperia della Ven. Cap. del SS. Sagramento per lo stampator Camerale, 1737.
  • Oratio de eligendo summo Pontifice ad E. mos & R. mos Principes S.R.E. Cardinales habita in SS. Basilica Vaticana a Josepho Simonio Assemano, die 18 Februarii 1740. Romae, ex tipographia Apostolica Vaticana, apud Joannem Mariam Salvioni, 1740.
  • Oratio habita in Basilica principis apostolorum de vrbe sie 22. februarii 1733. A Josepho Simonio Assemano ... dum a capitulo, et canonicis Benedicto XIII pontifici maximo solenne exequiae celebrarentur, antequam ejus corpus inde ad ecclesiam Santae Mariae supra Mineruam efferretur. Romae, & Ferrariae, Typis Bernardini Pomatelli impressoris episcopalis, 1733.
  • Bibliothecae apostolicae vaticanae codicum manuscriptorum catalogus in tres partes distributus in quarum prima orientales in altera graeci in tertia latini italici aliorumque europaeorum idiomatum codices Stephanus Evodius Assemanus archiepiscopus apamensis et Joseph Simonius Assemanus. Paris, Maisonneuve, 1926.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Graf, Georg (1960). "104. Joseph Simonius Assemani". Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, Volume 3. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. pp. 444–445. 
  2. ↑ David M. Cheney. "Archbishop Josephus Simon Assemani". Catholic-hierarchy. Retrieved 12 March 2011. 

References

  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press 
  • G. Levi Della Vida, «ASSEMANI, Giuseppe Simonio». In: Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (on-line) (Italian)
  • D.A.Morozov, E.S.Gerasimova, Carolus Rali Dadichi and the “Bibliotheca orientalis” by J.S.Assemani: A letter of the Oriental author on the popularization of Syriac literature in Europe (in Russian). In: Simvol 61: Syriaca • Arabica • Iranica, ed. N.L.Muskhelishvili and N.N.Seleznyov. Paris-Moscow, 2012, pp. 357-370.
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