Domenico Magri

Joannes Domenico Magri (Valletta, 28 March 1604 – 4 March 1672) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and scholar. He was active in various roles in service of the Catholic church, including ambassadorial roles, professorial roles, parish priest, Protonotary Apostolic and secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith. He wrote a scholarly volume on ecclesiastical terms, which was well received in his time; however, today he is perhaps best known for his short book on the Vitues of Coffee published in 1671.

Life

Domenico was born in Valletta to parents originating from Italy. Domenico was inducted as a priest in Malta as a 16 year old. He was patronized by his uncle, professor Luigi Casuro, to study law in Palermo, then he traveled to Rome. At the age of 19, he was recruited on a diplomatic mission to the Levant, perhaps because of his knowledge of languages. He returned to Rome in 1623 accompanied by twelve Maronite students, who came to study at the College of the Propaganda Fide, recently founded by Pope Urban VIII.

In 1625, he joined the Jesuits and in 1628 he was living at the Collegio Romano. There he studied philosophy and theology. He moved back to Malta in 1640 and joined the community of Collegium Melitense. Between 1641 and 1642 Magri was preaching as a priest both in Maltese and Arabic. In 1643 he left the Jesuit order.

He returned to Malta in 1648, but appears to have been involved in a dispute regarding his appointment as parish priest of Vittoriosa by Bishop Balaguer. By 1651 he had lost that appointment, although in 1648, he had been appointed parish priest of St Paul's parish in Valletta. Magri then left Malta for Rome in 1651, where he was named to various posts, including Catechumens’ College, Consultor of the Congregation of the Index of Prohibited Books, and Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith.

Magri was knighted into papal Order of the Golden Spur and appointed Protonotary Apostolic. He was in the service of Cardinal Francesco Maria Brancaccio, Bishop of Viterbo, where he was appointed Canon Theologian of his Cathedral Chapter. Magri would die in Viterbo.

In 1644 Magri published in Italian the first edition of an encyclopaedia of ecclesiastical terms - Notitia De Vocaboli Ecclesiastici, reissued in Latin in 1677. Finally, he published the eighteen page pamphlet Virtu del Kafe, Bevanda Introdotta Nuovamente Nell’Italia con alcune osservationi per conservar la sanità nella vecchiaia. It was dedicated to his patron Cardinal Brancaccio, who had published a treatise on the beverage chocolate.

Bibliography

• Epistolæ, Coniecturæ, & Obseruationes Sacra, Profanaque Eruditione Ornatæ. Ex Bibliotheca Cathedralis Vterbienses a Dominico Magro Melitensi eiusdem ecclesiæ Canonico Theologo. Studio, ac triennali labore collectæ, prodeunt in lucem publicæ studiforum utilitati ... D. Francicu Mariæ cardinalis Brancacchi. (Part 1). Rome, Nicolai Angeli Tinassi, 1659, 396 p.. A second part was published in Wittemberg 1667.
• Virtu del kafe, bevanda introdotta nuovamente nell'Italia con alcune osservationi per conservar la sanita nella vecchiaia. All'eminentissimo signor cardinal Brancacci, Domenico Magri per Michele Hercole, 1671, 16 pages. (translates as Virtues of coffee, a drink reintroduced into Italy with some observations to preserve health in old age.)