UMBERTO FRACASSINI. — Historian and biblical scholar, b. at Cortona on 28 Jan. 1862, d. at Perugia on 30 July 1950. A pupil of the Pio Seminary, he obtained the degree in theology *in utroque iure* at the Apollinare.
His excellent intellectual and pedagogical gifts were highly esteemed at the Seminary of Perugia, where he again held the office of rector and professor of Sacred Scripture. At the time of the Modernist crisis (1907), he retired into private life, assisting his brother in the care of the parish of Prepo (suburbs of Perugia) and continuing, with growing passion, his studies, of which he offered a sample in the much-discussed work: *Che cos'è la Bibbia?* (Rome 1909). Urged on by his friend Alessandro Bonucci, he applied for and obtained the libera docenza in the History of Christianity at the University of Rome, where he developed the work: *L'impero romano e il cristianesimo* (Perugia 1913). After moving to the University of Florence as lecturer in the history of religions, he published the well-known volume: *Il misticismo greco e il cristianesimo* (Città di Castello 1922). Later he gave some lectures at the University for Foreigners in Perugia and collaborated on the *Enciclopedia Italiana*.
Archbishop Monsignor Rosa proposed him to the Holy See for appointment as archdeacon of the Perugian cathedral.
His sincere faith vibrates in the words he spoke on his deathbed: “I intend and wish to die in the bosom of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, an intention of which no one should have any doubt.”