Giacomo Micaglia
| Jakov Mikalja | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Giacomo Micaglia March 31, 1601 |
| Died | December 1, 1654 (aged 53) |
| Nationality | Kingdom of Naples |
| Other names | Jacobus Micalia |
| Occupation | linguist and lexicographer |
Giacomo Micaglia (Latin: Jacobus Micalia) (March 31, 1601 – December 1, 1654) also Jakov Mikalja in Croatian, was an Italian linguist and lexicographer, of Slavic ancestry. He was born in the town of Peschici (Apulia), at that time under the Kingdom of Naples. He said about himself to be "an Italian of Slavic language".
Micaglia was born in Peschici, a small town on the Gargano peninsula that six centuries before (about 970) was a settlement of Croat refugees and that in those years entertained fruitful trade with Venice and the city-states on the Dalmatian coast (like the Republic of Ragusa).
He was the great-uncle of Pietro Giannone (1676–1748), the historian born in Ischitella, few kilometers by Peschici. About it Giannone writes that «Scipio Giannone (his father) had married in Ischitella in 1677 Lucretia Micaglia, daughter of Matteo Micaglia from Peschici and Isabella Sabatello.»
Because of his knowledge of the Croatian language, Micaglia was dispatched to the Republic of Ragusa by the Jesuit order. It was the time of Counter-Reformation and the Catholic Church wished to restore its power in the Balkans as well. For four years (1630–1633) he taught grammar at the Jesuit College in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). There he wrote "Latin grammar for Illyrian students" after Emanuel Alvares (De institutione grammatica pro Illyricis accommodata, 1637).
...
Wikipedia