Carlo Alfonso Nallino (18 February 1872 – 25 July 1938) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

orientalist.

Biography

Nallino was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, and studied literature under Italo Pizzi at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. From 1896 he taught in the Istituto Universitario Orientale of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and then at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

(1902–1913). By the age of 21 Nallino had gained an international reputation for his publication of an Arabic manuscript by the celebrated tenth-century

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

astronomer

al-Battānī Al-Battani (before 858929), archaically Latinized as Albategnius, was a Muslim astronomer, astrologer, geographer and mathematician, who lived and worked for most of his life at Raqqa, now in Syria. He is considered to be the greatest and mos ...

. With his publication of a book on Egyptian Arab dialect in 1900 he was invited by King

Fuad I of Egypt Fuad I ( ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sultan in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hu ...

to teach at the Egyptian Khedive University. Amongst his pupils there was Taha Husayn, who would go on to become Minister of the Education. Nallino eventually returned to Italy to take up the position of ordinary professor at the University La Sapienza of Rome, where, in 1921, he had founded the Istituto per l'Oriente, which published the monthly journal ''Oriente Moderno''. In 1933 he was named member of the Royal Academy of Arab Language in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, and he was a member of the Italian

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...

and of the

Royal Academy of Italy The Royal Academy of Italy () was a short-lived Italian academy of the Italian Fascism, Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was effectively dissolved in ...

. In 1938 he travelled for two months in the

Arabic Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, visiting the newly formed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but he died shortly afterwards in Rome from a cardiac arrest after publishing only the first volumes of the studies about his trip,

Publications

*Revision of ''Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia'' by

Michele Amari Michele Benedetto Gaetano Amari (7 July 1806 in Palermo – 16 July 1889 in Florence) was a Sicilian patriot, liberal revolutionary and politician of aristocratic background, historian and orientalist. He rose to prominence as a champion of ...

(1854), repr. in 5 volumes, Catania, R. Prampolini, 1933-35. *''Chrestomathia Qorani Arabica'' (1893). *''Al-Battānī sive Albatenii opus astronomicum: ad fidem codicis Escurialensis Arabice editum'', (1899 - 1907); the Latin title of al-Battānī's ''Kitāb Zīj al-Ṣābī’'' () ; multi-volume scientific treatise on geography and astronomy from Arabic manuscript, translated in 12th cent. Latin by

Plato Tiburtinus Plato Tiburtinus (, "Plato of Tivoli, Italy, Tivoli"; Floruit, fl. 12th century) was a 12th-century Italian people, Italian mathematician, astronomer and translation, translator who lived in Barcelona from 1116 to 1138. He is best known for transla ...

, with Latin annotations.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

Biography

Publications

References

Bibliography

See also