Pomponazzi

(Pietro) [Lat. Pompon at i us], Italian philosopher, b. Mantua, of noble family, 16 Sept. 1462. He studied at Padua, where he graduated 1487 as laureate of medicine. Next year he was appointed profe or of philosophy at Padua, teaching in concurrence with A chill in i. He afterwards taught the doctrines of Aristotle at Ferrara and Bologna. His treatise De Immortal it ate Animæ , 1516, gave great offence by denying the philosophical foundation of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The work was burnt by the hangman at Venice, and it is said Cardinal Bembo’s interce ion with Pope Leo X. only saved Pomponazzi from ecclesiastical procedure. Among his works is a treatise on Fate, Free Will, etc. Pomponazzi was a diminutive man, and was nicknamed “Peretto.” He held that doubt was nece ary for the development of knowledge, and left an unsullied reputation for upright conduct and sweet temper. Died at Bologna, 18 May, 1525, and was buried at Mantua, where a monument was erected to his memory.