Giacomo Maria Airoli

(Also Ayroli).

A Jesuit Orientalist and Scriptural commentator; born at Genoa, 1660; died in Rome, 27 March, 1721. He was professor of Hebrew in the Roman College, and later succeeded Cardinal Tolomei in the chair of controversy. His knowledge of Hebrew is shown by his Hebrew translation of a homily of Pope Clement XI. He is the author of a number of dissertations on Scriptural subjects, mostly chronological, which were highly thought of. Sommervogel enumerates fourteen, chief among which are:

• "Dissertatio Biblica in quâ Scripturæ textus aliquot insigniores, adhibitis linguis hebræa, syriaca, chaldaica, arabica, græca, . . . dilucidantur" (Rome, 1704);

• "Liber LXX hebdomadum resignatus, seu in cap. IX Danielis dissertatio" (Rome, 1713), several times reprinted;

• "Dissertatio chronologica de anno, mense, et die mortis Domini Nostri Jesus Christi" (Rome, 1718).

A full list of his works is found in SOMMERVOGEL, Bibl. de la C. de J. (Paris, 1890), I, 717.

F. BECHTEL