CARPANI, Melchiorre. – Missionary of the Barnabite Order. Born at Lodi in 1726, died there on 8 July 1797. He entered the Barnabites in 1744 and departed for the kingdoms of Ava and Pegu in 1764, working there as a missionary until 1774. He was the first to study, design, and cast the characters of the Burmese alphabet with the types of the Polyglot Press of the Propaganda, when, following an unsuccessful attempt on his life, he was sent back there from Rangoon by Monsignor Percoto (q.v.). He was later proposed as rector of the college of S. Giovanni delle Vigne at Lodi (1775–85) and finally as spiritual director of the Angeliche of Milan; he was also at Vicenza for a mission in the presence of Joseph II and Maria Theresa.
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 at Pondichéry down to the Peace of Versailles of 20 January 1783; *Alphabétum Birmanum* (Rome 1776, in 8°, pp. xlv–51): the prologue and explanation of the alphabet are by C., while the preface alone is by Giovanni Cristoforo Amaduzzi, who is sometimes credited as the author.