Biography
He was born of humble parents at Schilpario in what is now the province of Bergamo, Lombardy.
In 1799 he entered the Society of Jesus, and in 1804 he became a teacher of classics in the Jesuit college of Naples. After completing his studies at the Collegium Romanum, he lived for some time at Orvieto, where he was engaged in teaching and palaeographical studies. Though he returned to Rome, the deteriorating papal relations with Napoleon and the city's subsequent occupation by General Miollis in 1808 necessitated Mai's withdrawal to Milan, where in 1813 he was made custodian of the Ambrosian library.
He now threw himself with characteristic energy and zeal into the task of examining the numerous manuscripts committed to his charge, and in the course of the next six years was able to restore to the world a considerable number of long-lost works. Having withdrawn from the Society of Jesus, he was invited to Rome in 1819 as chief keeper of the Vatican Library. In 1833 he was transferred to the office of secretary of the Congregation of the Propaganda Fide; on February 12, 1838 he was raised to the dignity of Cardinal. He died at Castel Gandolfo, near Albano Laziale, on 8 September 1854.
Read more about this topic: Angelo Mai
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“A great biography should, like the close of a great drama, leave behind it a feeling of serenity. We collect into a small bunch the flowers, the few flowers, which brought sweetness into a life, and present it as an offering to an accomplished destiny. It is the dying refrain of a completed song, the final verse of a finished poem.”
—André Maurois (18851967)
“The best part of a writers biography is not the record of his adventures but the story of his style.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (18991977)
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every mans life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (174095)