Joseph Simon Assemani
| Giuseppe Simone Assemani | |
|---|---|
| Titular Archbishop of Tyre | |
 |
|
| Church | Maronite Church |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 7 December 1766 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 July 1687 Hasroun, Lebanon |
| Died | 13 January 1768 Rome |
Giuseppe Simone Assemani (Arabic: يوسف بن سمعان السمعاني Yusuf ibn Siman as-Simani, English: Joseph Simon Assemani, Latin: Ioseph Simonius Assemanus), born on July 27, 1687 in Hasroun, Lebanon – died on January 13, 1768 in Rome) was a librarian, Lebanese orientalist and Maronite eparch. For his efforts,and encyclopedic knowledge he earned the nickname "The Great Assemani".
Giuseppe Simone Assemani was born on 27 July 1687 in Hasroun, Mount Lebanon from Assemani family. His surname is related to several distinguished Orientalists and clergy ("Assemani" more than a surname, is an Arabic patronymic which means son of Simeon, but this has not prevented him to be called Simon) When very young, in 1703, he was sent to the Maronite College in Rome, and was transferred thence to the Vatican library. Assemani graduated himself in 1709. Talented graduates (at that time he had written three essays on the Syrian grammar and theology) was seen by Pope Clement XI, which left him in Rome and ordered him cataloging early Christian manuscripts that were brought in 1707 from Egypt, by his brother Elias. In 1710, Joseph served as scribe of Oriental Manuscripts (scriptor Orientalis), a translator from the Arabic and Syriac languages, as well as advisor to the Congregation for the review and reform of the liturgical books of the Eastern rites and was ordained priest on 21 September 1710. In 1711 Giuseppe received papal authorization to pass from Maronite rite to the Latin one. From 1715 to 1717 he was sent to Wadi El Natrun, Cairo, Damascus and Lebanon to search for valuable manuscripts, and returned with about 150 very choice ones, filled up a collection of the Vatican Library. In 1735 Pope Clement XII sent him again to the East where he presided the 1736 Maronite Synod of Mount-Lebanon, which laid the foundations for the modern Maronite Church. He returned with a still more valuable collection, because he found an opportunity to collect even more ancient works, even more valuable than his first trip. In this time, he brought about 2,000 works, and the most important of them was the Codex Assemanius, a evangeliarium which he had bought from Jerusalem in 1736. He later played a significant role in mediating several crises in the Maronite Church hierarchy by virtue of his influence in Rome and his knowledge of the Maronite Church.
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