FONCK, LEOPOLD. - Exegete, b. at Wissen (Rhenish Prussia) on 14 Jan. 1865, d. at Vienna on 19 Oct. 1930. After completing his gymnasium and lyceum studies at Kempen, he was sent to the German-Hungarian College in Rome, where in 1883-90 he pursued philosophical and theological studies at the Gregorian University, earning degrees in both faculties. In 1892 he entered the Society of Jesus. Destined for biblical teaching, he undertook specialized studies in the years 1895-96 in Egypt and Palestine, then from 1896 to 1899 at the Universities of Berlin and Munich. In 1901 he was appointed professor of Sacred Scripture in the theological faculty of Innsbruck, and in 1908 at the Gregorian University in Rome.
In 1909 he received from Pius X the task of organizing the Pontifical Biblical Institute (v. ISTITUT), which the Pope intended to found, and he was its first president. He fulfilled the assignment with great organizational talent and with sound and modern criteria. In the years 1915-19, forced by the war to leave Rome, he resided in Switzerland; then he continued teaching at the Biblical Institute until 1929. As a professor and writer, Father F. distinguished himself for clarity, that is, knowledge of the problems, and great zeal for purity of doctrine. Three of his most important works had wide circulation in Italy: Il metodo del lavoro scientifico (Italian trans., Rome 1907); I miracoli del Signore (Italian trans., ibid. 1916); Le parabole del Signore (Italian trans., ibid. 1924).