ZIGLIARA, TOMMASO MARIA. – Dominican philosopher and theologian, born at Bonifacio in Corsica on 29 October 1833, died in Rome on 10 May 1893.
He studied in Rome and Perugia, where he was ordained a priest on 17 May 1857. Professor of philosophy and theology in Rome, at Corbara in Corsica, at Viterbo, and once again in Rome, at the Minerva, where he also served as regent of studies in the Collegium S. Thomae. Created a cardinal in 1879 by Leone XIII, in January 1893 he opted for the suburbicarian see of Frascati, but died before receiving episcopal consecration.
His works were numerous and important: Saggio sui principi del tradizionalismo (Viterbo 1865); Osservazioni sopra alcune interpretazioni della dottrina ideologica di s. Tommaso d'Aquino, del prof. G. C. Ubaghs (there 1870); Della luce intellettuale e dell'ontologismo (2 vols., Rome 1871); Summa Philosophica in usum Scholarum (there 1876); a classic work, widely disseminated in 17 subsequent editions; De mente Concilii Viennensis in definitione unionis animae cum corpore (Rome 1878); Commentaria s. Thomae in Aristotelis libros Perihermeneius et Posteriorum Analyticorum, cum synopsibus et annotationibus (there 1882); it is the first volume of the Leonine edition of the works of s. Tommaso; Propedeutica ad Sacram Theologiam seu Tractatus de Ordine supernaturali (there 1890); noteworthy for its vigorous defense of the supernatural. Z. was one of the most distinguished neoscholastics, and contributed effectively to the revival of Christian philosophy according to the spirit of s. Tommaso. Known and esteemed throughout the Catholic world, he was held in particular regard by Leone XIII, who employed him in the drafting of numerous encyclicals. Z. was distinguished by the excellence and harmony of his intellectual and moral gifts, which made him dear to his friends and not disliked by his adversaries.