FERRINI, Contardo, blessed. - Jurist, b. in Milan on 5 Apr. 1859, d. at Suna (Novara) on 5 Oct. 1902. He graduated in law at Pavia in 1880 with a dissertation in Latin on the importance of Homeric and Hesiodic poetry for the history of criminal law; and at Pavia he took up the teaching of the history of Roman criminal law, and subsequently that of the exegesis of the sources of Roman law. Winner of the competition for the chair of Roman law, in 1887 he went to Messina, whence in 1890 he was called to Modena, finally returning in 1894 to the University of Pavia.
Brought up in a deeply Catholic family, he led an exemplary life and soon after his death the fame of his holiness spread. On 4 July 1924 his cause was introduced before the Congregation of Rites and on 8 Feb. 1931 Pius XI ordered the reading of the decree on the heroicity of his virtues; he was beatified on 13 Apr. 1947 (cf. the various Positiones: 1. Super introductione causae, Rome 1919-22; 2. Super scriptis, ibid. 1921; 3. Super virtutibus, ibid. 1927; Super miraculis, ibid. 1933; Novissima positio super miraculis, ibid. 1941).
He was among the very first in Italy to devote himself to the study of Byzantine law: and, at the instigation of Zachariae von Lingenthal, in 1881, barely twenty-two years old, he undertook the critical edition of the Greek paraphrase of Justinian’s Institutes attributed to Theophilus; in connection with this work he was led to undertake a series of investigations, especially into the sources, while on the other hand he collaborated with Alcerati on studies that culminated in the publication (1897) of the seventh volume added Basilica (v.). His wide knowledge of Oriental languages also resulted in the Latin translation of the so-called Syro-Roman Book. He collaborated on the edition of the Digest, the first part of which was published in Milan in 1931.
Alongside this fervent activity as an editor of texts, there is that of an acute scholar of the personality and works of various lesser-known Roman jurists; to him are owed numerous works in various fields of Roman and modern private law, a comprehensive work on legacies and fideicommissa (1889), and a manual of Pandects (1900), which, though not subjected to final revision, remains a valuable aid for in-depth research.
He took a particular interest in Roman criminal law; among other works, two studies on attempt (in collaboration with his uncle, the criminal lawyer Antonio Buccellati) and, above all, the Esposizione storica e dottrinale del diritto penale romano (1869), which stands comparison with the almost contemporary and much more extensive work of Mommsen.
With the exception of his longer works, his juridical writings have been collected in five volumes (Milan 1929-30); a brief selection of his religious writings was republished in Milan in 1947.