Manlio Simonetti

Manlio Simonetti (2 May 1926 – 1 November 2017) was an Italian scholar of Patristics and the history of Biblical interpretation.

Biography

Simonetti was born in Rome on 2 May 1926.

His early studies were in Classics (philology and history) at the Sapienza University of Rome. In 1959 he became Professor of Ancient Christian Literature at the University of Cagliari, a post he held until 1969. At the time of his award, Pope Benedict XVI remarked of him, "Professor Simonetti has approached the world of the Fathers in a new way, showing us with accuracy and care, what the Fathers say from the historical viewpoint; they become our contemporaries who speak to us".

Simonetti's academic publications are numerous. His scholarship was focused on the domains of Biblical interpretation (in particular, Job, the Gospel of Matthew, etc.), in Christian antiquity (e.g. Origen), Christology, notably during the Arian crisis of the fourth century), and early Christian literature (including anthologies).

Several of his most recent articles have appeared in Vetera Christianorum, and have been highlights of most issues since 2000. This journal is published at Edipuglia for the Classics and Christianity Department of the University of Bari.

Selected works