Giovanni Maria Cornoldi

Professor, author, and preacher, born at Venice, 29 Sept., 1822; d. at Rome, 18 Jan., 1892. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1840 and taught philosophy at Bressanone and Padua for many years. From 1880 until his death he belonged to the editorial staff of the “Civiltà Cattolica”, at Rome and often preached at the church of the Gesù. He was an ardent disciple of St. Thomas and wrote many works in explanation of his doctrine and in refutation of Rosminianism. His “Lezioni di Filosofia” (Rome 1872) was translated into Latin by Cardinal Agostini under the title “Institutiones Philosophicæ ad mentem divi Thomæ Aquinatis”. In addition to his purely philosophical writings he published a commentary on the “Divina Commedia” of Dante, illustrated from philosophy and theology. He founded academies in honour of St. Thomas at Bologna and at Rome and established two periodicals, “La Scienza Italiana” and the journal of the “Accademia di. S. Tommaso”. He was a man of great amiability, zealous and fervent in religious life.