John Argyropoulos

John Argyropoulos
John Argyropoulos as depicted by Domenico Ghirlandaio in 1481 in the Vocation of the Apostles fresco in the Sistine Chapel, Rome.
Born	Ioannis Argyropoulos c. 1415 Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
Died	1487 Florence, Republic of Florence
Nationality	Greek
Era	Renaissance philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Renaissance philosophy Aristotelianism
Institutions	University of Constantinople (1448–1452) Neoplatonic Florentine Academy (1456–70)
Main interests	Rhetoric, theology
Influences Basilios Bessarion
Influenced Constantine Lascaris, Johann Reuchlin, Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, Marsilio Ficino, Angelo Poliziano, Leonardo da Vinci

John Argyropoulos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Ἀργυρόπουλος Ioannis Argyropoulos; Italian: Giovanni Argiropulocode: it is deprecated ; surname also spelt Argyropulus, or Argyropulos, or Argyropulo; c. 1415 – 26 June 1487) was a lecturer, philosopher and humanist, one of the émigré Greek scholars who pioneered the revival of classical greek learning in 15th-century Italy.

He translated Greek philosophical and theological works into Latin besides producing rhetorical and theological works of his own. He was in Italy for the Council of Florence during 1439–44, and returned to Italy following the fall of Constantinople, teaching in Florence (at the Florentine Studium) in 1456–70 and in Rome in 1471–87.

Biography

John Argyropoulos was born c. 1415 in Constantinople. He was Greek.

Argyropoulos studied theology and philosophy in Constantinople. As a teacher in Constantinople, Argyropulos had amongst his pupils the scholar Constantine Lascaris. He was an official in the service of one of the rulers of the Byzantine Morea and in 1439 was a member of the Byzantine delegation to the Council of Florence, when they accepted Catholicism and abjured Greek Orthodoxy.

In 1443/4, he received a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Padua before returning to Constantinople.

When Constantinople fell in 1453, he left it for Peloponnisos and, in 1456, took refuge in Italy, where he worked as a teacher in the revival of Greek philosophy as head of the Greek department at Florence's Florentine Studium. In 1471, on the outbreak of the plague, he moved to Rome, where he continued to act as a teacher of Greek till his death.

He made efforts to transport Greek philosophy to Western Europe

He left a number of Latin translations, including many of Aristotle's works. His principal works were translations of the following portions of Aristotle, Categoriae, De Interpretatione, Analytica Posteriora, Physica, De Caelo, De Anima, Metaphysica, Ethica Nicomachea, Politica; and an Expositio Ethicorum Aristotelis. Several of his writings still exist in manuscript. His students included Pietro de' Medici, Lorenzo de' Medici, Angelo Poliziano and Johann Reuchlin.

He died on 26 June 1487 in Florence, supposedly of consuming too much watermelon.

See also

• Greek scholars in the Renaissance

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
• Brown, Virginia (1974). "Giovanni Argiropulo on the Agent Intellect: An Edition of Ms. Magliabecchi V 42." In: Essays in Honour of Anton Charles Pegis. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
• Geanakoplos, Deno J., Constantinople and the West: Essays on the Late Byzantine (Palaeologan) and Italian Renaissances and the Byzantine and Roman Churches, University of Wisconsin Press, 1989, ISBN 0-299-11884-3
• Geanakoplos, Deno J., A Byzantine looks at the Renaissance – Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies.
• Harris, Jonathan, 'Byzantines in Renaissance Italy', Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies.
• Vassileiou, Fotis & Saribalidou, Barbara, Short Biographical Lexicon of Byzantine Academics Immigrants in Western Europe, 2007, ISBN 978-960-93027-5-3
• Nicholl Charles, Leonardo Da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind, Penguin Books Ltd, 2005, ISBN 0-14-029681-6
• Vassileiou Fotis, Saribalidou Barbara, 'John Argyropoulos teacher of Leonardo da Vinci', Philosophy Pathways, Issue 117, 19 May 2006, International Society for Philosophers
• Migné, Patrologia Graeca vol. 158 (documentacatholicaomnia.eu)

External links

• John Argyropoulos at the Mathematics Genealogy Project