ZOLA, GUISEPPE

Jansenist theologian; b. Concessio (near Brescia), 1739; d. same place, Nov. 5, 1806. He led a very agitated life and followed the politico-religious movements of the times. As a young man he was named professor of moral theology at the seminary of Brescia. He became a very close friend of Pietro Tamburini and with him championed the ideas of C. O. jansen and Richer in Northern Italy. Both Zola and Tamburini were relieved of their teaching duties in 1771 by the bishop of Brescia, because of their Jansenistic rigorism. Zola, called to Rome, was reinstated through the intervention of Cardinal Marefoschi. In 1774 he went to Pavia to teach Church history and to be director of the German College, which Joseph II had transferred there to serve as a general seminary. Upon the death of the emperor the Lombard bishops reestablished the episcopal seminaries in their dioceses and once again dismissed Zola and Tamburini. After the French invasion and the annexation of the Cisalpine Republic to France by Bonaparte (1796–99), Zola occupied the chair of diplomatic law at Pavia. He was interrupted by the brief return of the Austrians (1799–1800), but again reinstated after the victory of Marengo and the formation of the kingdom of Italy. His principal works were: Theologicarum praelectionum specimen (Brescia 1775), placed on the Index in 1797, and De locis theologiae moralis (Pavia 1785).

Bibliography: h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae 5:710. a. mercati and a. pelzer, Dizionario ecclesiastico 3:1405.

[p. broutin]