PERRONE, GIOVANNI. - Jesuit, theologian, born at Chieri (diocese of Turin) on 11 March 1794, died at Castelgandolfo on 28 August 1876.
Graduated in theology at the University of Turin, he entered the Society of Jesus, recently restored by Pius VII, on 14 December 1815. He taught dogmatic theology at Orvieto (1817–24), then moved to the same teaching post at the Collegio Romano, continuing there until his death, with only a three-year interval as rector at Ferrara and about three years of exile in England due to the revolutionary movements of the Roman Republic (1848–51). He served as a consultant to Gregory XVI on the controversy surrounding Hermesianism and to Pius IX on the definition of the Immaculate Conception, defending its definability in *De immaculato B. Mariae Virginis conceptu* (Rome 1847; 10th ed. Milan 1852). His reputation rests chiefly on his theological writings, which made him one of the most effective restorers of ecclesiastical studies in the 19th century; his clarity, method, conciseness, and especially his extensive knowledge of the patristic sources of positive theology rendered him welcome and well-suited to the scholars of his time. He published: *Praelectiones theologiae dogmaticae* (9 vols., Rome 1835–42; of which there were 34 editions by 1888, with complete or partial translations into various languages); *Praelectiones... in compendium redactae* (5 vols. [later 2], ibid. 1845; of which there were 47 editions by 1892). In addition, as a complement to the *Praelectiones*, various specialized treatises: *De virtutibus fidei, spei et caritatis* (Ratisbon 1865); *De virtute religionis* (Paris 1866), in which he particularly combats the theories of mesmerism, somnambulism, and spiritism; *De Domini Nostri Jesu Christi divinitate adversus huius aetatis incredulos* (3 vols., Turin 1870); *De matrimonio christiano* (3 vols., ibid. 1870); *De Romani Pontificis infallibilitate* (ibid. 1874). He also published many controversial works against the errors of G. Herder, of whom he proved a formidable opponent; notably: *L'Ermesianismo* (3 fascicles, Rome 1838–39) and against Protestants: *Il protestantesimo e la regola di fede* (3 vols., ibid. 1853).