COPPI, ANTONIO. - Historian, b. 22 Apr. 1783 at Andezeno (Turin), d. 26 Feb. 1870 at Rome. He studied literature and philosophy at the College of Chieri. Desirous of entering the Society of Jesus, which, although suppressed, continued to exist under another name, he went to Rome, but could not be admitted. He therefore devoted himself to the study of law and above all of history.
He accordingly conceived the idea of continuing Muratori’s Annali d'Italia from 1750 onwards. Publication, begun in 1848, was completed in 1867, in 14 vols., plus two indexes, and extends to 17 March 1861. C. also occasionally held political appointments. Thus, in 1831, he was invited to draw up a plan for improvements in the papal government on the basis of the Memorandum of the Great Powers. At the beginning of the pontificate of Pio IX, he was a member of the press censorship council and was included by the Pope among the hundred councillors who were to constitute the municipal magistracy of Rome.