SURIANO, FRANCESCO. - Palestinian scholar, known for his *Trattato di Terra Santa e dell'Oriente*, born in Venice in 1450, died after 1529. He went to sea from childhood and at the age of 25 became a Franciscan. He resided in the East from 1481 to 1484 as superior of the convent in Acre, then again from 1493 to 1515, and served twice as Custodian of the Holy Land (1493–95 and 1512–15). He was also imprisoned in Cairo (1510–12) due to one of the Arab extortions against Europeans.
He took an interest in the holy sites, European pilgrims, and merchants established in the East, aided by his knowledge of Greek and Arabic. The *Trattato*, written in 1485, revised in 1514, and printed in Venice in 1524, is rich in firsthand experience and serves as an important source for understanding the customs and manners of the time. S. died an old man; in 1529 he was still guardian of the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi.