FRACASSINI, UMBERTO. - Historian and biblical scholar, b. at Cortona on 28 Jan. 1862, d. at Perugia on 30 July 1950. A pupil of the Seminario Pio, he obtained a degree in theology and in Utroque Iure at the Apollinare.
His excellent intellectual and pedagogical gifts were greatly appreciated at the Seminary of Perugia, where he held the office of rector and professor of Sacred Scripture. At the time of the modernist crisis (1907) he withdrew into private life, assisting his brother in the care of the parish of Prepo (a suburb of Perugia) and continuing, with growing passion, his studies, of which he offered a sample in the widely 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 History of Christianity at the University of Rome, where he matured the work: L'impero romano e il cristianesimo (Perugia 1913). Having moved 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). Subsequently he gave some lectures at the University for Foreigners in Perugia and collaborated on the Enciclopedia Italiana.
Archbishop Msgr. Rosa designated him to the Holy See for appointment as archdeacon of the Perugian cathedral.
His candid faith vibrates in the words he spoke on his deathbed: «Intendo e voglio morire in grembo alla S. Chiesa cattolica romana, intenzione e volontà di cui nessuno deve aver dubbio».