CARPANI, MELCHIORRE. - Barnabite missionary. Born at Lodi in 1726, he died there on 8 July 1797. He entered the Barnabites in 1744 and left for the kingdoms of Ava and
Pegu in 1764, working there as a missionary until 1774. He was the first to study, design, and have the characters of the Burmese alphabet cast with the types of the Polyglot Press of Propaganda, when, following an unsuccessful attempt on his life, he was sent there again from Rangoon by Mons. Percoto (v.). He was subsequently provost of the college of S. Giovanni delle Vigne at Lodi (1775–85), and finally spiritual director of the Angeliche of Milan; he was also in Vienna on a mission to Giuseppe II and Maria Teresa.
He wrote: Memorie sopra la vita di Hyder Ali Kan (Lodi 1782, Bassano 1784), which includes the modern history of India, from the beginnings of that bold and powerful prince, whom C. knew and frequented in 1774 near Pondichéry, to the Peace of Versailles of 20 Jan. 1783; Alphabetum Birmanum (Rome 1776, 8vo, pp. XLV–51): the prologue and explanation of the alphabet are by C., while Giovanni Cristoforo Amaduzzi, who is regarded as the author, wrote only the introduction.