PAPADOPOLOS COMENOS, NIKOLAOS. — Greek theologian and scholar, b. at Chandax on the island of Crete in 1651, d. at Padua on 25 Jan. 1740. He studied at the Greek College in Rome, where he converted to Catholicism (1672) and entered the Society of Jesus, but left almost immediately, continuing his studies until his priestly ordination. He then traveled through the principal Italian cities for educational purposes, welcomed everywhere. From Cosimo III he received the Abbey of St. Zenobius, and from the University of Padua an invitation to teach canon law there (1688).
He wrote controversial works in defense of his compatriots with a conciliatory tendency. Notable among these is his *Historia gymnasii Patavini* (2 vols., Venice 1726), rich in information about the Greek theologians who had connections with that institution.