MAFFEI, SCIPIONE, Marchese (1675-1755 ). An Italian dramatist and scholar, born at Vero na, June I, 1675. He received his training with the Jesuits at Parma and then spent some time in the army under his brother Alessandro, a gen eral in the Bavarian service, taking part in the battle of Fldchstiidt (1704), After his return to Italy, he published the hook, Della seien:a carol lcresca (Rome, 1710), in which he censured the practice of dueling. With two others he started in 1710 the Gio•na/e dci letterati. Interested in the older Italian stage, he prepared an edition of some of its best plays and prefixed thereto a dis sertation of his own. But he (lid still more for the native theatre by composing his licrope, the first Italian tragedy of incontestable excellence, which was performed in 1713 and printed for the first time at Venice, 1714. This drama was trans lated into several foreign languages, and it seems that Voltaire at first meant to translate it into French, and only later decided to write an independent drama. The French writer did, how ever, imitate some scenes of the Italian work. and a controversy of a bitter nature arose between the two authors. Matfei's erudition revealed itself in a number of treatises, e.g. in the Istoria diplo
?milieu (Mantua, 1727), the Verona illustrata (Verona, 1732), and the Antiquitalcs, which he published at Paris (1733), after a jour ney of investigation made through Provence. While in France he studied the Jansenistic move ment, and dealt with it in his Istoria teologica, etc. (Trent, 1742). He attacked current preju dices in the Dell' impiego dcl denaro (1746). in which he demonstrated that loans on interest are not prohibited by moral law or by the Scriptures, and he renewed his attack in the Arte inagiea (1749-54). Against an enemy of the stage, the cleric Concina, he directed the Trattato de' tcatri antichi e moderni, which received the sanction of Pope Benedict XIV. Works on physics, entomology, and other subjects show his scientific attainments. Consult : Maffers Opere (21 vols., Venice. 1790) and the selected ()miscall lettcrari (Venice. 1:349, and Milan. 1S44) ; Piudemonte, "Elogio del marchese Scipi one :Maffei." in the Elagic di letterati itnliuni (Florence, 1S59) ; Giuliari, "Bibliografia matrei ana," in the Propugnuto•c for 1SS5,