Bernardo Zamagna (; 9 November 1735 – 20 April 1820) was a

Dalmatian Italian Dalmatian Italians (; ) are the historical Italian national minority living in the region of Dalmatia, now part of Croatia and Montenegro. Historically, Italian language-speaking Dalmatians accounted for 12.5% of population in 1865, 5.8% in 18 ...

priest, poet and translator. He wrote in Latin. Bernardo was born in the Ragusa (present day

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

) in 1735. He was the son of Marco Zamagna (who died two months before his birth) and Maria

Caboga The House of Kaboga (Kabužić in Croatian, Caboga in Italian) were a patrician family from the city of Dubrovnik and its Republic of Ragusa. Their numbers, economic power and social and political status marked them as wealthy, influential and n ...

. He was educated by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. In 1753, he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to continue his studies and began his novitiate at S Andrea al Quirinale. After two years he took his first monastic vows. His teachers were Ragusans

Raimondo Cunich Raimondo is an Italian given name. Its English equivalent is Raymond. Notable people with the name include: * Raimondo Boucheron (1800–1876), Italian composer, chiefly of sacred music *Raimondo D'Inzeo (1925–2013), Italian show jumping rider * ...

and

Roger Boscovich Roger Joseph Boscovich (, ; ; ; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa.Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. Poet and scientist with a passion for astronomy, at twenty years only he published a poem in Latin: ''De aucupio accipitris'' (The Hunting of the Sparrowhawk). This work was soon republished in Germany. Later, he translated into Latin the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' (Venice, 1777) ("Homeri Odyssea Latinis Versibus Expressa"), this edition was dedicated in a long letter of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Hexameters Hexameter is a Metre (poetry), metrical Line (poetry), line of verses consisting of six metrical foot, feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English language, English line of poetry; in Greek language, Greek as well as i ...

to the grand Duke Pietro Leopold of Tuscany, to whose court Zamagna seems to have been sent by the Senate of Ragusa. He wrote commentaries on

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

and

Theocritus Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...

(Parma 1768),

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a few r ...

and

Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium (now Assisi) and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of '' Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the ...

. He refused the chair of Greek at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

, offered by

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

and returned in Ragusa in 1783. He died on 20 April 1820, aged 84.

Works

Bibliography

* Ciampaglia, Giuseppe: "La Navis Aeria di padre Bernardo Zamagna". Strenna dei Romanisti del 2007. Casa Editrice RomaAmor, Roma 2007

References

External links

De vita et scriptis Bernardi Zamagnae patricii Rhacusini commentariolum,

Francesco Maria Appendini Francesco Maria Appendini (November 4, 1768 – 1837) was an Italian Latin and Italian scholar who studied Slavic languages in the Republic of Ragusa. The French invasion prevented him from returning to Italy, and he adopted Republic of Ragusa as hi ...

, Bernardo Zamagna {{DEFAULTSORT:Zamagna, Bernardo 1735 births 1820 deaths Ragusan scholars Ragusan poets Italian poets Ragusan clergy 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians People from Dubrovnik 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians 18th-century writers in Latin Dalmatian Italians