PAPADOPOLOS COMNENOS, 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 it almost immediately, continuing his studies until priestly ordination. He then travelled through the principal Italian cities for purposes of instruction, being well received by all. From Cosimo III he received the abbey of S. Zenobio, and from the University of Padua the invitation to teach canon law there (1688).
He wrote controversial works in defence of his compatriots, with a conciliatory tendency. Particularly noteworthy is his Historia gymnasii Patavini (2 vols., Venice 1726), rich in information concerning the Greek theologians connected with that university.