MAURO da LEONESSA. - Capuchin missionary and writer, born at Leonessa (Rieti) on 10 May 1883, died at L'Aquila on 19 January 1946. He entered religious life in 1898 and graduated in philosophy and theology (1908–12). He served as a missionary first in Aden (1912), then in Eritrea (1913–25), and later as vice-rector of the Ethiopian College in the Vatican City (1925–33).
He took an interest in Ethiopian studies through articles and works; notable among these is the *Grammatica analitica della lingua tigray* (Rome 1928), of which he was a lecturer at the Ethiopian College in Rome and at the University of Naples (1933–42); *Compito per il Calendario abissino confrontato con il computo latino* (Asmara 1918); *Dissertazioni cronologiche: cronologia e Calendario etiopico* (Tivoli 1934); he conducted historical research on the Roman church of S. Stefano degli Abissini and on Roman-Ethiopian relations (Rome 1932); he published and translated the *Lettere di Abba Teele Haymanot di Adua* (ibid. 1939); on behalf of the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches, he collected *Testi di diritto antichi riguardanti gli Etiopi* (vols. V–VI of the *Fonti per la codificazione canonica orientale*, ibid. 1932); he worked within the Anti-Slavery Society and defended the cause of mixed-race individuals at various congresses. He was awarded the “Star of Ethiopia.” He wrote a historical monograph on *Il predicatore apostolico* (Isola del Liri 1929) and on *S. Ippolito della Via Tiburtina* (Rome 1935).