PAOLO ELIESEN (HELGESEN). — Danish theologian, born in Verberg (now Halland) c. 1480, died in 1536, perhaps killed by Lutherans. In 1517 he entered the Carmelites in Helsingor; in 1519 he became prior in Copenhagen and professor of theology at the university there, and in 1527 provincial. He was the last defender of Catholic doctrine against the Lutherans in the Nordic countries. In his writings (more than thirty), in Danish and Latin, published in Copenhagen (1932–48, 7 vols.), almost all of an apologetic nature, Eliesen shows himself well versed in Holy Scripture, ecclesiastical history, and canon law, far surpassing the conventional scholars of his time.
Bibl.: C. E. Secher, P. Elieses danske Skrifter, Copenhagen 1855, p. 208; E. Schmidt, S. P. Der Karmeliter Paulus Helias, Vorkämpfer der kath. Kirche... in Dänemark, Freiburg 1893; E. J. Reiter, Lektor Paul, Copenhagen 1916.
Ambrogio di Santa Teresa