Vezzosi, Antonio Francesco
VEZZOSI, ANTONIO FRANCESCO
Theatine historian and theologian; b. Florence, Oct. 4, 1708; d. Rome, May 29, 1783. He joined the Theatine Order on Dec. 6, 1732, after graduating from the University of Florence. From 1736 to 1750 he held a professor's chair at the Rimini Seminary and the Theatine houses of studies in Bergamo and Rome. In 1751 Benedict XIV made him professor of Church history at the Sapienza and in 1756 named him bisbop's examiner. In this capacity he served on a panel that examined St. Alphonsus Liguori on June 11, 1762. During his two terms as general of the Theatines (1756–59 and 1774–77) he enriched the library of St. Sylvester at the Quirinale. The chronicles of the order relate that Clement XIII intended to make Vezzosi a cardinal but the machinations of the Pope's nephew blocked the appointment. On the night before his nomination, Vezzosi's name was withdrawn in favor of Lorenzo Ganganelli. The reversal did not disturb his equanimity. He published in critical edition the Opera Omnia of the Roman liturgist Cardinal Bl. Giuseppe tommasi (Rome 1749–69). For this work he received great praise, as he did also for his two-volume work I Scrittori dei chierici regolari detti teatini (Rome 1780).
Bibliography: b. andreu, "Bibliografia tomasiana," Regnum Dei 5 (1949) 291–338.
[a. sagrera]