MEZZOFANTI, GIUSEPPE. — Cardinal and distinguished polyglot, born in Bologna on 19 September 1774, died in Rome on 15 March 1849. Ordained a priest in 1797, he taught Arabic at the University of Bologna until, having refused to swear allegiance to the Cisalpine Republic, he was deprived of his chair. He nevertheless regained it in 1803 and held it until 1808, when it was suppressed; restored by Pius VII in 1814, he occupied it once more until 1831, when he was summoned
As cardinal he held various important offices, including those of prefect of the Congregations for Studies and for the Revision of the Books of the Eastern Church. His name is also associated with his exceptional gift for languages. “It appears that he could speak approximately forty languages fluently; to these must be added another thirty, which he had studied carefully but had almost never spoken... and many dialects. All told, the approximate figure comes to one hundred and fifteen” (G. Ricciotti, art. cit. in bibl., p. 460). During his lifetime, Card. M. published nothing, chiefly because he was too absorbed by his many occupations. Some of his manuscripts were nevertheless published subsequently by E. Teza (Saggi inediti di lingue americane, Pisa 1868) and by C. Tagliavini (La lingua degli Indii Luisenos, Bologna 1926).