PAVISSICH, ANTONIO. - Jesuit, preacher, sociologist, b. 13 June 1851 at Spalato in Dalmatia, d. 30 Nov. 1913 at Naples. Having entered the Society of Jesus (1882), he was rector of the Zmajević Archiepiscopal Minor Seminary at Zara and later of the scholasticate of his Order at Gorizia. The remaining years of his life were devoted almost entirely to the ministry of the divine word, in which he distinguished himself by his exceptional gifts as an orator, becoming a preacher loved and heard in the principal cities of Italy.
As a man of study, P. took a particular interest in the urgent problems of his time, which he examined not only in his addresses but also in his writings. Especially noteworthy is his collaboration with Civiltà Cattolica during the last eight years of his life.
Principal writings: La questione sociale. Conferenze triestine (2nd ed., Treviso 1902); Fatti e criteri sociali (ibid. 1904); Il cancro civile (ibid. 1905); Milizia nuova dei cattolici italiani, ossia la riorganizzazione delle forze cattoliche in Italia secondo la mente di Pio X (Rome 1905); Il nemico d'Italia, ossia l'anticlericalismo (ibid. 1909); Il codice della vita (2 vols., Florence 1911), on the value and effectiveness of the catechism; Scuola libera (Rome 1913).