Tommaso Fazello

Tommaso Fazello
Tommaso Fazello
Born	1498 ; Sciacca, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	8 April 1570 (aged 71–72); Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily
Occupation	Friar, historian, theologian, priest
Movement	Renaissance
Family	Girolamo Fazello

Tommaso Fazello (Neo-Latin Fazellus, 1498 – 8 April 1570) was an Italian Dominican friar, historian and antiquarian. He is known as the father of Sicilian history. He is the author of the first printed history of Sicily: De Rebus Siculis Decades Duae, published in Palermo in 1558 in Latin.^[1]^[2] He was born in Sciacca, Sicily^[3] and died in Palermo, Sicily.^[4]

He rediscovered the ruins of the ancient Sicilian towns of Akrai (modern Palazzolo Acreide), Selinus (modern Selinunte) and Heraclea Minoa. He also rediscovered the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Akragas (modern Agrigento).^[5]^[6]

In 1555, he taught at the Convent of San Domenico, Palermo, which later became the University of Palermo.^[7]

Biography

Born at Sciacca in Sicily, Fazello studied at Palermo and entered the Dominican Order. He next studied at Rome and at Padua, where he received his doctorate. At Rome, he became friends with the humanist scholar Paolo Giovio, who encouraged him to write a history of Sicily. Returning to Palermo, Fazello undertook to teach philosophy and at the same time kept up his religious exercises. He so devoted himself to his studies that eventually he gave up all but one meal a day and reduced the number of hours he slept each night. His history of Sicily, De rebus siculis decades duae (Palermo, 1558), which was his only publication, included material on the ancient history and antiquities of Sicily, showing an immense personal knowledge of topography that allowed him to identify, on the basis of ancient authors, many of the major sites of Sicily. His work is still considered fundamental for the study of ancient Sicily.^[8]

Opere

Fazello, Tommaso (1558). "De rebus Siculis decades duae, nunc primum in lucem editae. His accessit totius operis index locupletissimus" (in Latin). Palermo. apud Ioannem Matthaeum Maidam et Franciscum Carraram. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
Fazello, Tommaso (1573). "Le due deche dell'historia di Sicilia" (in Italian). Translated by Remigio Nannini. Venezia. appresso Domenico, & Gio. Battista Guerra fratelli. Retrieved 23 November 2019.

Bibliography

Contarino, Rosario (1995). "FAZELLO, Tommaso". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 45: Farinacci–Fedrigo (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.

References

^ ..Also on display will be a rare first edition of the first printed history of Sicily. Written in Latin by Tommaso Fazello, this folio-sized volume, “De Rebus Siculis Decades Duae,” was published in Palermo in 1558. Fazello’s history was recently purchased for the Valente Family Collection.. Archived 2015-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, "An Evening Dedicated To Sicily - The Gem Of The Mediterranean Sea" September 25, 2006, Accent Public Relations
^ (Page 409, Chief Historians - Historians of Sicily.), Thomas Fazelli De Rebus Siculis Decades due, in fol.Panormi 1558. This valuable Author may be found in the Italian Illustrata; was translated into Italian by Remigio Fiorentino, in quarto Ven 1574, and in Folio, Palermo 1628, which last Edition is much enlarged with several Historical Facts by Martin Lafarina. ,A New Method of Studying History, Geography, and Chronology: With a Catalogue of the Chief Historians of All Nations, the Best Editions of Their Works, and Characters of Them, Nicolas Lenglet Dufresnoy Authors: Nicolas Lenglet Dufresnoy, Richard Rawlinson, Publisher Printed for C. Davis, 1730
^ (in Italian) Scheda di Tommaso Fazello, Chi era Costui (Statue of Tommaso Fazello in Sciacca, Sicily)
^ (in Italian) Chi è Tommaso Fazello Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine, Istituto di Istruzione Superiore T.Fazello
^ "Palazzolo Acreide" Archived 2010-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, Only by the end of the '500, thanks to the studies of Tommaso Fazello, the ancient site of Akrai was identified.
^ The works of Dominican Tommaso Fazello Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine — SIMUV
^ In 1555 the commune also engaged Dominican professors of philosophy, including the historian Fazello., "University of Palermo", Catholic Encyclopedia
^ Thomson de Grummond, Nancy, ed. (2015). "Fazello (Fazelli; Facellus), Tommaso (1498-1570)". Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology. Routledge. p. 435. ISBN 9781134268610. Retrieved 12 February 2019.