AMICO, ANTONINO. - A Messinese priest, canon of the Palermo cathedral, where he died on 22 October 1641. The year of birth of this celebrated Sicilian scholar is unknown; he is best known for his research on the ecclesiastical history of Sicily, for which Philip IV appointed him royal historiographer. With indefatigable labour, he pored over the archives of Naples and Sicily, gathering valuable material for the ecclesiastical and civil history of Sicily, much of which remains unpublished.
Of his works, almost all written in Latin, we may cite: *Rium orientalium latiiorum ordinum... notitiae et tabularium* (folio, Palermo 1636), a partial publication of which the sequel is found in *Memorie per servire alla storia letteraria di Sicilia*, II, Palermo 1736; *Dissertatio historica de antiquo urbis Syracusarum archiepiscopatu* (Naples 1640); *Series anniversarium insulae Siciliae...* (Palermo 1640); *De messanensis prioratus sacrae hospitalis domus militum S. Joannis Hieros. origine* (Palermo 1640). Other unpublished writings were published by R. Starrabba (*Scritti inediti o rari di A. A. e documenti relativi al medesimo*, Palermo 1891). He also oversaw the edition of the *Diplomi della cattedrale di Messina* collected by A. A. (Palermo 1876–90).
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