Pius Zingerle (17 March 1801 – 10 January 1881) was an Austrian Orientalist.

Life

Zingerle was born at

Meran Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Va ...

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. After studying the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

at Meran,

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and two years of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, he joined the

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

Marienberg Marienberg is a town in Germany. It was the district capital of the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis (Central Ore Mountains district) in the southern part of Saxony, and since August 2008 it has been part of the new district of Erzgebirgskreis. As of ...

in 1820, took vows, 20 October 1822, and was ordained priest, 4 April 1824. With the exception of six years (1824-7 and 1837-9) during which he was assistant pastor at Platt and at St. Martin, two parishes in the Valley of Passeier, he was professor, since 1852 also director at the gymnasium of Meran. Upon the invitation of

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, he became professor of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

at the Sapienza in Rome in March, 1862. While in Rome he was also consultor of the Propaganda for Oriental Affairs and scriptor of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

. Unable to accustom himself to the Roman climate, he returned to Marienberg in 1865, where he was made sub-prior and professor of theology. He had a fair knowledge of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and Persian, was an acknowledged master of Syriac, and gained considerable fame through his German versions of the writings of Saint Ephraem. Zingerle died at the Abbey of Marienberg near Meran, 10 January 1881.

Works

The following are his chief works: * , translated from the Syriac (2 vols., Innsbruck, 1836) * , translated from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and the Syriac (6 vols., Innsbruck, 1837; new ed., Augsburg, 1845-of which vols. IV and V are German martial versions of Ephraem's Syriac hymns) * , in vol. XXVIII of (Kempten, 1859) * (Innsbruck, 1840) * (Dillingen, 1846) * (Innsbruck, 1853; 2nd ed., Augsburg, 1955) * (Innsbruck, 1855) * (Innsbruck, 1869) * (Rome, 1871) * (Rome, 1873). He contributed various essays on the Ephraemic metre and on the Syrian metre in general to , vols. II-XIX, and other Syrian studies to in the years 1853 and 1870-71. He is also the author of two volumes of German poems (vol. I, Innsbruck, 1843; vol. II, Mainz, 1860) and of a few ascetical and other works of minor importance.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zingerle, Pius Syriacists 19th-century Austrian Roman Catholic theologians 19th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests 1801 births 1881 deaths Austrian Benedictines Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences 19th-century Austrian translators People from Merano