Ferrini, Contardo, Blessed

FERRINI, Contardo, Blessed. - Jurist, b. in Milan on 5 Apr. 1859, d. at Suna (Novara) on 5 Oct.

1902. He graduated in jurisprudence 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 assumed the post of history of Roman criminal law and, subsequently, that of exegesis of the sources of Roman law. Having won the competition for the chair of Roman law, he went in 1887 to Messina, whence in 1890 he was called to Modena, to return, finally, in 1894, to the University of Pavia.

Educated in a profoundly Catholic family, he led a most exemplary life and soon after his death the fame of his sanctity spread. On 4 July 1924 his cause was introduced at 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 introduzione 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 urging of Zachariae von Lingenthal, he undertook in 1881, barely twenty-two years old, the preparation of a critical edition of the Greek paraphrase of the Justinianic Institutes attributed to Theophilus; in connection with this work he was led to carry out a series of investigations, especially on the sources, while on the other hand he devoted himself, together with Mercati, to studies that concluded with the publication (1897) of the VII vol. added to the edition of the Basilica (v.). His extensive knowledge of Oriental languages yielded, among other things, 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 a keen scholar of the personality and works of various among the minor Roman jurists; to him are owed moreover very numerous works in the various fields of Roman and modern private law, an extensive work on legacies and fideicommissa (1880) and a manual of Pandects (1900).

which, although it could not be subjected to definitive revision, is still a precious aid for in-depth research.

He had a particular interest in Roman criminal law; worth remembering, among others, are 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 (1899), which stands up worthily to comparison with the almost contemporary and much more extensive work of Mommsen.

With the exception of the larger ones, his juridical writings have been collected in five volumes (Milan 1929-30); a brief selection of his Scritti religiosi was republished in Milan in 1947.

BIBL.: sources

C. Pellegrini, La vita del prof. C. F., 2nd ed., Turin 1928; P. de Francisci, Ricordo di C. F., in Scritti di diritto romano in onore di C. F. pubblicati dall'Università di Pavia, Milan 1946, pp. 3-15. Rodolfo Danieli

@incollection{ec5_ferrini_contardo_beato,
  author    = {Danieli, Rodolfo},
  title     = {Ferrini, contardo, beato},
  booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
  volume    = {V},
  pages     = {1203--1206},
  note      = {Cited by column},
  publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
  address   = {Città del Vaticano},
  year      = {1950},
  url       = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ferrini-contardo-beato}
}