GIOVANNI ANTONIO SCALABRINI. – Priest, born in Ferrara on 13 March 1698, died there on 5 April 1777.
Ordained priest in 1724, he was appointed parish priest of S. Maria delle Bocche, where he remained until his death; he was also a canon and lecturer in Sacred Scripture at the local university, where he earned a degree in theology. His scholarly activity began in 1726 with correspondence with Ludovico Antonio Muratori. For more than half a century he transcribed ancient Ferrarese documents, many of which were sent to Muratori for inclusion in the *Rerum Italicarum Scriptores*. He also compiled numerous sacred and profane memoirs of the Church of Ferrara, particularly of the metropolitan see, and wrote various explanatory notes collected in the *Memorie storiche delle chiese di Ferrara*. In total, he authored over 50 works amounting to some 15,000 pages. Muratori addressed 170 letters to him, while only 71 of his letters to Muratori are known. The Bollandists, in the *Acta Sanctorum*, recall him as *carissimus noster*.
Moroni, XXIV, 53; LII, 223; CIII, 31, 33, 37; G. Bettini, *La facoltà teolog. nella P. Univ. di Ferrara*, Ferrara 1940, p. 19; P. Rocca, *La corrispondenza S.-Muratori con lett. e docum. inediti*, in *Atti e Memorie della Deput. province. ferrarese di stor. patr.*, new series 5 (1950-51), pp. 33-288. Dante Balboni