GABRIELI, Giuseppe. — Arabist and librarian of the Accademia dei Lincei, born in Mélendugno (Lecce) on 4 April 1872, died in Rome on 7 April 1942. From an early age he devoted himself to Oriental studies at the Universities of Naples and Florence, where he graduated with a thesis on the Bedouin poetess al-Khansāʾ. He served as headmaster-rector at the Capace Institute in Maglie (1900–1902), from which he moved to Rome as librarian of the Lincei, a position he held from 1903 until his death.
In his new role, he was able to collaborate on the chronographic and historical work of Leone Caetani, whose *Fondazione*—born from the prince’s donation of his scholarly papers—he organized within the Academy. In 1915 he obtained the *libera docenza* and in 1917 the teaching assignment in Arabic language and literature, though persistent opposition prevented him from securing a university chair.
Among the 259 publications listed in his bibliography, the following are noteworthy: on Oriental studies: *I tempi, la vita ed i canzonieri della poetessa araba al-Khansāʾ*, Florence 1899, ed. Rome 1944; *Il nome proprio arabo-musulmano*, Rome 1916; *Dante e l’Oriente*, Bologna 1920; on the history of culture: *Il carteggio Linceo della vecchia accademia di F. Cesi*, collected and published in 3 parts, 4 vols., Rome 1938–42, a nearly twenty-year labor conducted with rigorous method and historical insight; on religious topics: *Il Vangelo dei piccoli*, Rome 1913, 2nd ed. Turin 1924; *Le parabole*, Turin 1925; *I Fioretti di S. Francesco*, Turin 1927—works in which he revealed his deeply Christian religious spirit and his capacity as an educator.