Antonino Valsecchi (; born Antonio Valsecchi, 25 December 170815 March 1791) was an Italian Roman Catholic apologist, member of the Dominican order. For thirty years, he was professor of theology at the
University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
.
Biography
Antonio was born in Verona.
He entered a Dominican seminary as a youth, and by 1726 took the name of Antonino. After studying philosophy and theology in Venice, while residing in the
Convent of the Gesuati there he gained a position teaching philosophy. In 1757, he was appointed professor of theology at Padua, a position he held for the remainder of his life.
In 1760 he was appointed to the
Accademia dei Ricovrati
The ''Accademia Galileiana'' ('Galilean academy') is a learned society in the city of Padua in Italy. The full name of the society is ('Galilean academy of science, letters and the arts in Padova'). It was founded as the in Padua in 1599, on th ...
. His works not only commented on the ''
Summa Theologiae
The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main the ...
'' but also criticized the rising
Rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...
of the Enlightenment.
He died in Padua,
and was buried in the cloister of the monastery attached to
Sant'Agostino, Padua.
Works
* ''Orazione in morte di
Apostolo Zeno
Apostolo Zeno (11 December 1668 – 11 November 1750) was a Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters.
Early life
Apostolo Zeno was born in Venice to a Kingdom of Candia#Establishment_of_Venetian_rule, colonial branch of the ...
, poeta e storico cesareo'', Venice, Simone Occhi, 1750; Milano 1751.
* ''Oratio ad theologiam'', Padu, 1758.
* ''Dei fondamenti della religione e dei fonti dell'empietà'', in 3 volumes, Padua, 1765.
** ''De las fuentes de la impiedad'', 1777 (Spanish publication).
** ''Of the Foundations of Religion, and the Fountains of Impiety'', 1800 (English publication).
* ''La religion vincitrice'', 2 voll., Padua 1776, 1779.
* ''La verità della Chiesa cattolica romana dimostrata e difesa'', Padua, 1787.
* ''Panegirici e discorsi'', Bassano 1792 (posthumous).
* ''Prediche quaresimali'', Venice, 1792 (posthumous).
* ''Praelectiones theologicae'', Padua, 1805 (posthumous).
* ''Ritratti o vite letterarie e paralleli di
G.J. Rousseau, e del signor di
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
, di
Obbes, e di
Spinosa, e vita di
Pietro Bayle'', Venice, 1816 (incomplete, published posthumously).
Note
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
Workson ''Post-Reformation Digital Library''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valsecchi Antonino
Members of the Dominican Order
18th-century Italian male writers
Christian apologists
Academic staff of the University of Padua
People from Verona