TARTAROTTI, Girolamo. — Scholar, born in Rovereto on 2 January 1706, died there on 16 May 1761. He was a friend of Scipione Maffei, Apostolo Zeno, and Ludovico Antonio Muratori. In Rovereto, he founded the Accademia dei Dodonei in 1730.
He served as secretary in Rome under Cardinal Passionei, and later as secretary to Marco Foscarini (the future Doge) in Venice, where he remained from 1741 to 1743. Upon returning to Rovereto, he devoted himself to illuminating the history of his homeland. His works *De origine Ecclesiae Tridentinae* (1743); *Memorie storiche intorno alla vita e alla morte dei ss. Sinisi, Martiri e Alessandro* (1745); and *De episcopatu Sabionensi s. Cassiani mart. deque Ingenuini eiusdem urbis episcopi actis* sparked new controversies, which became violent with the publication of *Memorie antiche di Rovereto* (Venice 1754), in which he denied the sanctity and martyrdom of Blessed Adelpretus, Bishop of Trent. He had a fierce opponent in Father Benedetto Bonelli, who never gave him respite. In 1749, T. published in Rovereto *Del Congresso notturno delle Lammie*, entering into controversy with Giannibaldo Carli, the renowned jurist Melchiori, Scipione Maffei, and Father Bonelli. T. also engaged in literary pursuits. On 16 May 1761, while the executioner was burning his book *Lettera seconda d'un giornalista d'Italia* page by page in the Piazza del Duomo in Trent, he died. His death was followed by an interdict imposed on the archpriest’s church in Rovereto, due to a bust the city wished to erect in honor of its distinguished citizen.