Ungarelli, Luigi

UNGARELLI, LUIGI. - Barnabite, one of the first Italian Egyptologists, b. in Bologna on 14 February 1779, d. in Rome on 21 August 1845.

Having moved to Rome as master of novices and lecturer in theology of his Order, he was able to follow Champollion's research and to make progress in the study of Egyptian hieroglyphs, to which he had been introduced by his fellow citizen I. Rosellini (v.). From 1854, in many articles and reviews, he defended Champollion's system of interpretation against the skepticism of many scholars. He was subsequently appointed to direct the organization and scholarly elucidation of the Vatican Egyptian Museum, founded in 1839 by Gregory XVI. Among his works, besides numerous articles relating to the Museum itself published in the Dissertazioni della Pont. Accad. di archeologia, mention should be made of the Elementa linguae Aegyptiacae (Rome 1837) and the Interpretatio obeliscorum Urbis (ibid. 1842), with notable copper engravings. On the death of Champollion le Jeune, his brother Figeac insinuated that the aforesaid works of U. were a plagiarism from unpublished manuscripts of the deceased, to which, moreover, his colleague and friend Rosellini had also had recourse. Only in 1928 was the perfect scholarly conscientiousness of both Egyptologists fully vindicated by G. Gabrieli on the basis of unpublished documents.

Sergio Bosticco