VINCENZO AVVOCATI (Avogadro). — Dominican theologian, b. Sept. 12, 1702, d. Sept. 8, 1767. Of precocious intellect, he left the legal profession at the age of 19 to enter the convent of S. Zita in Palermo, where he professed on Apr. 6, 1721.
He completed his philosophical and theological studies at the *Collegium Divi Thomae* in Rome, obtaining the lectorship in a disputation before Benedict XIII, who ordained him priest in 1727. In the convents of Palermo and Trapani (according to Mazzuchelli, also in the seminary of Agrigento), he carried out a long and fruitful teaching career. On July 12, 1734, he sustained the *examen ad gradus* in Rome. Thoroughly versed in biblical languages, philosophy, and the various branches of theology, he became renowned in ecclesiastical literature not only for several pamphlets but also for eight treatises on exegetical, moral, canonical, and apologetic topics. Notable among his works is *De sanctitate librorum qui in Ecclesia catholica conservantur* (I: *Praeparatio biblica*; II: *Denomstratio biblica*, Palermo 1741-42), dedicated to Benedict XIV.
To his teaching, he united singular merits of virtue and spirituality. He served as master of novices, prior of S. Zita, companion of the Master General during his visitation of Sicily, and finally Provincial (1765-66).