ZOLA, GIUSEPPE. — Jansenist, born in 1739 at Concesio near Brescia, died there in 1806, comforted by the Sacraments.
He studied with the Oratorians, the Theatine Scarella, and the Benedictines, among whom was Rotigni. Librarian of the Queriniana, while still very young, and teacher of theology at the diocesan seminary, he was the intimate friend TAMBURINI, PIETRO (v.) and soon united his own fortunes with those of his friend. Having lost his offices because of the scandal caused by Tamburini’s (v.) De Summa, he was subsequently rector of the Fuccioli College in Rome, professor at the University of Pavia, teacher at the Lyceum in Brescia, and finally, again in Pavia, holder of the chair of the history of law and diplomacy. Reserved, reflective, and averse to polemics, he sacrificed his life, abilities, and reputation to active collaboration with and complete devotion to Tamburini, to whose works and controversies he anonymously linked Theologicarum praelectionum specimen (Brescia 1775), De locis theologiae moralis (Pavia 1785), and other pamphlets, leaving several works in manuscript. A follower in ecclesiastical history of Tillemont and Fleury, in theology of the “Appellants,” and in moral theology of the rigorists, he maintained relations with the various Jansenist circles of the peninsula, in which he distinguished himself through his learning and outward moderation.