Famous Catholics
By Unknown
Australian Catholic Truth Society No.1445 (1964)
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A some-what random selection of Scientists, Explorers, Mathematicians, Writers, Artists, Scholars, Pioneers, Statesmen, and Inventors, plus others, with the occasional Saint thrown in for good measure. With thanks to St. Anthony (who doesn't receive a mention!) Guild Press. Did you know these people added lustre to the story of the Church Christ founded?
A.
Abelard, Peter (1079-1142): French philosopher, theologian; contributed to Scholastic method although he had nominalistic tendencies.
Achillini, Alessandro (1463-1512): Italian physicist, astronomer; inaugurated reaction against Ptolemaic astronomy.
Africanus, Sextus Julius (160-240): Chronographer.
Alan of Walsingham (died 1364): English monk, architect.
Alarcon, Pedro Antonio de (1833-1891): Spanish writer, statesman.
Albert or Albrecht (died 1229): Bishop of Riga, Apostle of Livonia; founded Riga, 1201.
Albornoz, Gil Alvares Carillo de (1310-1367): Archbishop of Toledo; cardinal, general, statesman; negotiated return of the papal states, 1354 (from the local despots who had seized them); his "Egidian Constitutions" for them prevailed until 1816.
Alcuin, Albinus (735-804): English scholar; Abbot of Tours; educator among Franks.
Alexander of Hales (1180-1245): English theologian, philosopher; first Franciscan teacher at Paris; called "Doctor Irrefragabilis".
Alfred the Great (849-899): First Saxon king of England; noted for wise laws, spread of religion and learning.
Allori, Alessandro (1535-1607): and his son Cristofano (1577-1621): Italian painters Florentine school.
Ampere, Andre Marie (1775-1836) French physicist; founded science of electro-dynamics; term ampere named after him.
Angelico, Fra (Giovanni da Fiesole) (1387-1455): {now Blessed} Italian Dominican; painter of religious subjects.
Angelin, Timothy (1822-1896): Canadian journalist and legislator. Father of Margaret Mary Angelin (1876?-1958) actress, Laetare medalist.
Animuccia, Giovanni (1500?-1571): Italian composer of sacred music; called "Father of the Oratoria".
Apponyi, Albert, Count (1846-1933): Hungarian statesman, parliamentary leader for 40 years; head of Hungary's peace delegation in Paris, 1920.
Arnold, Thomas (1823-1900): English educator; convert, 1856.
Augustine of Canterbury, Saint (died 604): Apostle of the English, first Archbishop of Canterbury.
B.
Bacon, Roger (1214-1294): English Franciscan; philosopher, experimental scientist; considered optical and astronomical laws, possibilities of scientific invention, gun-powder; called father of experimental science.
Baegert, Johann Jacob (1717-1777): Jesuit missionary, ethnographer; works on Lower California.
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de (1475-I517): Spanish adventurer; discovered Pacific Ocean, 1513.
Banim, John (1798-1842) and Michael (1796-1874): First national novelists of Ireland; John called the "Scott of Ireland".
Barbour, John (1316?-1395): Scottish poet, author of the epic "Brus".
Baring, Maurice (1874-1945): English poet, novelist, critic, author of works on Russia; convert, 1909.
Bartholomeus Anglicus (thirteenth century): English Franciscan, author of a medieval encyclopaedia of science.
Bartolommeo, Fra (1475-1517): Florentine Dominican, painter; religious subjects.
Bayma, Joseph (1816-1892): Italian Jesuit, mathematician, scientist; "Molecular Mechanics."
Bazin, Rene (1853-1932): Novelist, biographer, travel writer, member of French Academy.
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (1872-1898): British illustrator; convert, 1895.
Beaton (Bethune), David (1494-1546): Cardinal Archbishop of St. Andrews, statesman; chancellor of Scotland; opposed efforts of Henry VIII to separate Scotland from loyalty to Holy See.
Beccaria, Giovanni Battista (1716-1781): Italian physicist; early researcher in electricity.
Becquerel, Antoine Cesar (1788-1878): French physicist, electrochemist; invented the constant cell, a differential galvanometer, an electric thermometer.
Becquerel, Antoine Henri (1852-1908): French physicist, investigator of uranium and radioactive substances; discovered "Becquerel rays"; Nobel Prize, 1903.
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827): German composer of many works, great influence; first of the Romanticists.
Behaim, Martin (1459-1507): German geographer; made a globe 1492.
Bellini, Gentile (1429-1507): and Giovanni (1430-1516): Painters of the Venetian School.
Belloc, Hilaire (1870-1953): English journalist, essayist, poet, novelist, historian, biographer, critic, apologist.
Benson, Robert Hugh (1871-1914): English author of historical fiction, other works; Anglican clergyman before conversion 1903; ordained to priesthood 1904.
Bentley, John Francis (1839-1902): English architect, promoted Gothic revival in England; designed Cathedral of Westminster.
Berengario Da Carpi, Jacopo (1470-1530): Italian anatomist, a founder of modern science of anatomy.
Bernanos, Georges (1888-1948): French journalist novelist; works concerned principally with struggle of the soul against evil.
Bernard, Claude (1813-1878): French physiologist studied the glycogenic function of the liver, sympathetic nervous system.
Bernini, Giovanni Lorenzo (1598-1680): Italian sculptor of wide influence architect of St. Peter's.
Bertrand, Louis (1866-19411: French novelist biographer.
Beschi, Gostanzo Giuseppe (1680-1746): Italian Jesuit missionary; famous for linguistic and literary work in the Tamil language.
Besse, Jean Martial Leon (1861-1920): Benedictine monk. historian.
Bickerstaffe-Drew, Francis (1858-1928): British author of 20 novels, under pseudonym of John Ayscough; convert, priest.
Bielski, Marcin (1495-1575): Polish historian, poet.
Bienvillle, Sieur de (1680-1768): French explorer, governor of Louisiana colony.
Billuart, Charles Rene (1685-1757): Belgian Dominican; theologian, preacher, controversialist.
Binet, Jacques Phillippe Marie (1786-1856): French mathematician, astronomer; Binet's theorem.
Biondo, Flavio (1388-1463): Italian historian, archaeologist.
Biot, Jean Baptiste (1774-1862): French physicist; studied polarization of light; Biot's law.
Bloy, Leon (1846-1917): French author, convert.
Boccaccio, Giovanni (1313-1375): Italian author; known as Father of Italian Prose; "Decameron".
Boethius, Anicius Manlius (480?-524?): Roman statesman and philosopher; "The Consolation of Philosophy."
Boileau-Despreaux, Nicolas (1636-1711): French poet, satirist, critic.
Bolivar, Simon (1783-1830): South American soldier, statesman, revolutionary leader, called "The Liberator".
Bolland, John van (1596-1665): Flemish Jesuit; editor of "Acta Sanctorum", continued by Bollandists.
Bolzano, Bernard (1781-1848): Bohemian mathematician; formulated theory of functions.
Bona, Giovanni (1609-1674): Cardinal; author of liturgical encyclopaedia "De Rebus Liturgicis".
Bordone, Parish (1500-1571): Venetian painter, pupil of Titian.
Borros, Christopher (1583-1632): Oceanic geographer.
Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe (1711-1787): Italian Jesuit; astronomer, physicist; offered a molecular theory of matter.
Bosio, Antonio (1575-1629): Italian archaeologist, called "Columbus of the Catacombs".
Bossuet, Jacques Benigne (1627-1704): French pulpit orator.
Botticelli, Sandro (1444-1510): Florentine painter.
Bourdaloue, Louis (1632-1704): French Jesuit, Pulpit orator.
Bourgeois, Louis (1819-1878): French archaeologist; presented and developed problem of the eoliths, 1863.
Bracton, Henry de (died 1268): English jurist; author of treatise "On the Laws and Customs of England".
Braille, Louis (1809-1852): French, blind educator of the blind; inventor of Braille system of raised-point printing.
Bramante, Donato (1444-1514): Italian architect; made plan for reconstruction of St. Peter's.
Branly, Edouard (1846-1940): French physicist; discovered coherer, making wireless telegraphy possible.
Breuil, Henri (1877-1961): French priest; archaeologist, authority on prehistoric art.
Bruckner, Anton (1824-1896): Austrian composer and organist.
Brunelleschi, Filippo (1377-1446): Italian architect: called founder of Renaissance architecture; established theory of perspective.
Brunetiere, Ferdinand (1849-1906): French critic, editor, professor of literature; convert.
Burke, Thomas Nicholas (1830-1882): Irish Dominican preacher.
Burnand, Sir Francis Crowley (1836-1917): English playwright; editor of "Punch" (1880-1906), "English Catholic Who's Who"; convert.
Butler, Alban (1711- 1773): English author; "Butler's lives of the Saints."
Byrd, William (1540-1623): English organist composer; founder of English Madrigal School.
C
Cabeza De Vaca, Alvar Nunez (1490-1557): Spanish explorer; colonial governor in Paraguay.
Cabot, John (1450 - 1498): Italian navigator; discovered mainland of North America, 24 June, 1497.
Cabral, Pedro Alvarez de (1460-1526): Portuguese navigator; discovered Brazil, which he named Vera Cruz.
Caedmon (died 670): First great English poet; lay brother at monastery in Whitby.
Caius (Kees, Keys, Kay, Key), John (1510-1573): English physician; one of the first to introduce publicly the practice of dissection into England, 1573.
Cajetan of Thiene, St. (1480-1547): Italian lawyer, religious reformer. A founder of Oratory of Divine Love, forerunner of the Theatines.
Cajetan, Tomaso De Vio (1469-1534): Dominican cardinal, philosopher, theologian.
Caldani, Leopold Marco Antonio (1725-1813): Italian anatomist, physiologist; furthered anatomical studies on function of spinal cord.
Calderon De La Barca, Pedro (1600-1681): Spanish priest, dramatist; author of over 200 works.
Calvert, Cecil (1605-1675): Second Lord Baltimore; responsible for enactment of religious toleration in Maryland colony.
Calvert George (1580-1632): First Lord Baltimore held important posts under James I; was granted territory of Baltimore colony but died before grant of charter; convert, 1625.
Camel (Kamel), George Joseph (1661-1706): Jesuit missionary, botanist; studied plants and natural history of Philippines.
Camoes, Luis Vaz de (1524-1580): Portuguese poet, dramatist.
Campion, Bl. Edmond [now St.] (1540-1581): English Jesuit; convert, 1573; martyred.
Cano, Melchior (1509-1560): Spanish Dominican theologian; called father of fundamental mental theology.
Canova, Antonio (1757-1822): Italian Sculptor of the modern classic school.
Canute Viking King and Saint.
Canute (II) The Great (994?-1035): King of Denmark, England, Norway.
Cardano, Girolamo (1501-1576): Italian physician, mathematician; solved cubic equation named after him.
Carnoy, Jean Baptiste (1836-1899): Belgian priest; founder of the science of cytology.
Carrell, Alexis (1873-1944): French surgeon, biologist; developed surgical techniques, experimented on transplantation of organs; author; member Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine, 1912.
Cartier, Jacques (1491-c.1557): Explored coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland; ascended the St. Lawrence to Montreal.
Caruso, Enrico (1873-1921): Italian operatic tenor.
Cassini, Jean Dominique (1625-1712): French astronomer; first director of Paris observatory; made important discoveries regarding Saturn, parallax of sun.
Cassiodorus, Flavius Aurelius (c.490-c.580): Roman statesman, writer, founder of monasteries.
Castelli, Benedetto (c.1572-1644): Italian Benedictine; mathematician, physicist; authority on hydraulics.
Cauchy, Augustin Louis (1789-1857): French mathematician; did research in calculus, developed wave theory in optics.
Cavalieri, Francesco Bonaventura (1598-1647): Italian Jesuit, mathematician; originated method of indivisibles; forerunner of integral calculus.
Caxton, William (1422-1491): First English printer.
Cellini, Benvenuto (1500-1571): Italian sculptor, worker in gold and bronze.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de (1547-1616): Spanish novelist; "Don Quixote".
Cesalpino, Andrea (1519-1603): Italian botanist, physician; important contributor to work on plant morphology, physiology; anticipated Linnaean system of classification.
Cezanne, Paul (1839-1906): French painter; a leader of postimpressionism.
Challoner, Richard (1691-1781): Bishop; reedited Douay Bible.
Chamberlain, Samuel de (1567-1635): Father of New France, founder of Quebec; discovered Lake Chamberlain,
Champollion, Jean Francois (1790-1832): French Egyptologist: discovered through the Rosetta Stone a system for deciphering hieroglyphics.
Charlemagne (742 -814): King of the Franks, Emperor of the West, founder of Holy Roman Empire; promoted spread of Christianity, learning; defender of the papacy.
Charles Martel (c.689-741): Duke of Austria, son of Pepin; halted Saracen advance on western Europe at Battle of Tours (732), and thereafter was called Martel ("The Hammer"); grandfather of Charlemagne.
Chateaubriand, Francois Rene de (1768-1848): French author, influential in history of Romantic Movement.
Chaucer, Geoffrey (1340-1400): Father of English poetry; "Canterbury Tales".
Chauliac, Guy de (1300-1370): French surgeon; gave authoritative description of bubonic plague, "Black Death," of fourteenth century.
Cherubini, Maria Luigi (1760-1842): Italian composer of ecclesiastical and operatic works.
Chesterton, Gilbert K. (1874-1936): English essayist, poet, novelist, biographer, Journalist; "Prince of Paradox"; convert 1922.
Chevreul, Michel Eugene (1786-1889): French chemist; did research in animal fats; discovered margarine, oleine, stearine.
Cimabue, Giovanni (Cenni di pepo) (1240-1302): Florentine painter; religious subjects.
Claudel, Paul (1868-1955): French author, diplomat; elected to French Academy, 1946.
Clavius, Christopher (1537-1612): Jesuit astronomer, mathematician; introduced decimal point.
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842-1907): Irish astronomer.
Cobo, Bernabe (1582-1657): Spanish Jesuit, naturalist; author of "History of the New World", on Latin America.
Collins, Michael (1890-1922): Irish revolutionary leader and soldier.
Colombo, Matteo Realdo (1516-1559): Italian anatomist; discovered pulmonary circulation.
Columbus, Christopher (1451-1506): Discovered the Americas in 1492.
Constantine the Great (c.280-337): Roman emperor; granted liberty of worship to Christians by Edict of Milan, 313; established Constantinople as capital of the Eastern Empire.
Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543): Astronomer; founder of modern astronomy, taught the revolution of planets around the sun and the rotation of the earth on its axis.
Coppee, Francois (1842-1908): French poet, dramatist, novelist; member of French Academy, 1884.
Cordova, Francisco Hernando de (1475-1526): Discovered Yucatan 1517.
Corneille, Pierre (1606-1684): French dramatist; great influence on French tragedy; "Le Cid".
Corot, Jean Baptiste Camille (1796-1875): French landscape artist.
Correggio, Antonio Allegri (1494-1534): Lombard painter; noted for mastery of light and shade; religious subjects.
Cortez, Hernando (1485-1547): Spanish explorer, soldier; conquered Mexico.
Coulomb, Charles Augustine (1736-1806): French physicist; investigated electricity and magnetism; stated coulomb's law; the coulomb named for him.
Couperin, Francois (1668-1733): French, one of the greatest composers for the harpsichord.
Counsin, Jean, Father (1490-1560): and Counsin, Jean, Son (1522-1590): French painters, workers in stained glass.
Crashaw, Richard (1613-1649): English poet of metaphysical school; convert 1646.
Credi, Lorenz di (1459-1537): Florentine painter; religious subjects.
D.
Dablon, Claude (1619-1697): French Jesuit Missionary in America; superior of Canadian missions.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): Florentine poet; "Divina Commedia", "Vita Nuova", "De Monarchia".
Daumer, Georg Friedrich (1800-1875): German writer; convert; "Maine Konversion".
Davenport, Sir William (1606-1668): English poet and dramatist.
Delacroix, Ferdinand Victor Eugene (17991863): Leader of French Romantic School of painting.
Delaroche, Paul (1797-1856): French painter of the Eclectic School; portrait and historical subjects.
De Rossi, Giovanni Battista (1822-1894): Archaeologist; aroused interest in Christian antiquities.
Descartes, Rene (1596-1650): French scientist and philosopher; founder of analytic geometry. (All of his philosophical works were on the Index.)
De Soto, Hernando (1500-1542): Spanish explorer; discovered lower course of Mississippi River, 1541.
Devlin, Joseph (1872-1934): Irish politician.
Dias, Bartholomew (1450-1500): Portuguese navigator; discovered Cape of Good Hope 1488.
Dimnet, Ernest (1869-1954): French priest, lecturer, writer.
Dior, Christian (1905-1957): French fashion designer.
Divisch, Procopius (1698-1765): Premonstratensian monk; erected a lightning rod in 1754, before Franklin's work was known.
Dolci, Carlo (1616-1686): Florentine painter; religious and portrait subjects.
Donatello or Donato di Noccolo di Betto Bardi (1386-1466): Italian sculptor, called the founder of modern sculpture.
Donizetti, Gaetano (1797-1848): Italian operatic composer.
Doria, Andrea (1468-1560): Genoese admiral, statesman; "Father of Peace," "Liberator of Genoa".
Dryden, John (1631-1700): English poet, playwright; poet laureate, 1670; convert 1686.
Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan (1816-1903): Irish nationalist; political leader in Australia after he emigrated here (1856); author.
Dulong, Pierre Louis (1785-1838): French chemist, physicist; author with Petit of formula determining the specific heat of solids.
Dumas, Jeane Baptiste (1800-1884): French chemist; did important research on vapour densities.
Duns Scotus, John (1256-1308): Scottish scholastic theologian; Franciscan; advanced best theological arguments for doctrine of the Immaculate Conception; known as "Doctor Subtilis".
Durer, Albrecht (1471-1528): Painter of German Renaissance School; engraver, woodcut artist; called the inventor of etching.
E.
Eck, Johann (1486-1543): German theologian, outstanding opponent of Luther.
Eckhel, Joseph Hilarius (1737-1798): Austrian Jesuit; founder of the scientific numismatics of classical antiquity.
Eichendorff, Joseph von (1788-1857): German lyric poet, novelist, critic.
Elgar, Edward (I857-1934): English composer. "Pomp and Circumstances".
Endlicher, Stephen (1804-1849): Hungarian botanist, linguist; elaborated a system of classifying plants.
Epee, Charles Michel de L' (1712-1789): French priest; developed a sign alphabet for deaf and dumb.
Erasmus, Desiderius (1466-1536): Dutch scholar, Renaissance leader.
Estaing, Jean Baptiste d' (1729-1794): French naval commander; aided Americans during Revolution.
Ethelbert, Saint (552-616): Confessor, king of Kent; his baptism followed by conversion of 10,000 countrymen; issued legal code; furthered spread of Christianity.
Eustachius, Bartolommeo (1524-1574): Italian anatomist; Eustachian tube, valve, named for him.
Eyck, Hubert Van (1366-1426): and his brother Jan (1370-1440): Painters, founders of Flemish School; developed process of oil painting; religious and portrait subjects.
F.
Faber, Frederick William (1814-1863): British author of spiritual works, hymns, convert, 1845; priest.
Fabre, Jean Henri (1823-1915): French entomologist; called "Homer of the Insect World".
Fabri, Honore (1607-1688): Jesuit; discovered circulation of the blood independently of Harvey.
Fabricius, Hieronymus (Farbicius ab Aquapendente) (1537-1619): Italian anatomist, Surgeon; described valvular system of the veins; teacher of Harvey.
Fallopio, Gabriello (1523-1562): Italian anatomist; Fallopian tubes named for him.
Faye, Herve Auguste Etienne Albans (1814-1902): French astronomer; discovered comet named for him; invented zenithal collimator.
Fenelon, Francois de Salignac de la Mothe (1651-1715): French writer, Archbishop of Cambrai.
Ferrari, Ludovico (1522-1565): Mathematician, discovered method of resolving equations of the fourth degree.
Fisher, John, Saint (1459-1535): English martyr, cardinal and Bishop of Rochester; chancellor of England; opposed Luther, Henry VIII's marriage with Anne Boleyn; beheaded for not recognizing Henry as head of the church; canonized, 1935.
Fizeau, Armand Hippolyte Louis (1819-1896): French physicist; experimentally determined velocity of light.
Foch, Ferdinand (1851-1929): French soldier; supreme commander of Allied forces, 1918; led 1918 offensive to victory.
Fortunatus of Brescia (1701-1754): Franciscan, pioneer morphologist.
Fortunatus, Venantius Honorius Clementianus (530-610): Bishop of Poitiers; Latin poet.
Foucault, Jean Bernard Leon (1819-1868): French physicist; experimented on light and heat; invented gyroscope; 1852; discovered Foucault electric current.
Francis of Vitoria (1480-1546): Spanish Dominican, theologian; a founder of international law.
Franck, Cesar Auguste (1822-1890): Belgian-French composer; pioneer of modern French instrumental school.
Frassen, Claudius (1620-1711): Franciscan theologian; author of "Scotus Academicus", a presentation of the theology of Duns Scotus.
Fraunhofer, Joseph con (1787-1826): Bavarian physicist, optician; discovered Fraunhofer lines; initiated spectrum analysis, the basis of spectrography.
Frechette, Louis Honore (1839-1908): Canadian journalist, poet, prose writer.
Freppel, Charles Emile (1827-1891): Bishop of Angers; pulpit orator; leader of clerical party; founder of Catholic University of the West (Angers), 1875.
Fresnell, Augustin Jean (1788-1827): French physicist; contributor to science of optics, wave theory of light; introduced compound lenses for lighthouse use.
Froissart, Jean (1337-1410): French historian.
Frontenac, Louis de Buade, Count (1620-1698): Governor of New France; encouraged explorations of Joliet, LaSalle, others.
G.
Gagarin, Ivan Sergeevich (1814-1882): Russian diplomat; Jesuit writer; convert, 1843.
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642): Italian astronomer, physicist; discovered moon shines with reflected light, observed milky way, four satellites of Jupiter, phases of Venus, sunspots; discovered laws of projectiles, principles of virtual velocities, gave exposition of principles of flotation. Summoned before Inquisition on two occasions for his defence of the Copernican system. Died and was buried in the Faith.
Galvani, Luigi (1737-1798): Italian physician, physicist; experimented to determine electrical forces involved in muscular movements; founder of Galvanism.
Gama, Vasco da (1469?-1524): Portuguese explorer. Discovered new sea route to India.
Garcia, Moreno Gabriel (1821-1875): Journalist, patriot, president of Ecuador; only ruler who protested against despoliation of the Holy See in 1870: assassinated.
Gasquet, Francis Aidan (1846-1929): English Benedictine, cardinal; head of commission for revision of the Vulgate; chief Catholic historian of the English Reformation, English monastic life and English ecclesiastical history of the middle ages.
Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655): French philosopher, called "Bacon of France"; advocate of empirical method.
Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis (1778-1850): French chemist, physicist, conducted important research of gases; improved methods of organic analysis.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (1100-1154): English bishop, chronicler; influential in development of national romance in English literature.
Ghiberti, Lorenzo di Cione di Ser Buonacorso (1378-1455): Florentine painter, sculptor, goldsmith.
Ghirlandajo, Domenico (Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi) (1449-1498): Florentine painter, mosaic and fresco artist; teacher of Michelangelo.
Gigli, Benianimo (1890-1957): Italian operatic tenor.
Gill, Eric (1882-1940): English sculptor, engraver, author; convert, 1913.
Giocondo De Verona (1433-1515): Franciscan architect, engineer, antiquarian; architect of St. Peter's.
Gioja, Flavio (Fourteenth Century): Italian mariner; contributed to improvement of compass.
Giorgione, Giorgio (1478-1511): Painter of Venetian School.
Giotto Di Bondon (1276-1337): Florentine painter, architect, sculptor, fresco artist.
Gluck, Christoph Willibald (1714-1787): German operatic composer,
Gobban, Saer (560-645): Irish ecclesiastical architect.
Godfrey of Bouillon (1061-1100): Duke of Lower Lorraine, "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre," a leader of the First Crusade; entered Jerusalem in 1099 and became its sovereign.
Gordon, Andrew (1712-1751): Benedictine monk; first to use a cylinder of glass to produce frictional electricity; invented electrical chimes.
Gorres, Joseph von (1776-1848): German journalist, literateur.
Gounod, Charles Francois (1818-1893): French composer of operatic and Church music.
Gower, John (1325-1408): English poet.
Goya Y Lucientes, Francisco Jose de (1746-1828): Spanish painter, etcher, lithographer; greatest painter of Spanish national costumes.
Greco, El (Kyriakos Theotokopoulos) (1548?-1614 or 1625): Greek born painter of Castilian school.
Gregory VII (Hilderbrand), Saint (1020?-1085): Pope, Benedictine monk, advisor to several popes; as pope strengthened interior life of Church and fought against lay investiture; driven from Rome by Henry IV, died in exile.
Gregory of Valencia (1550-1603): Jesuit moral theologian; works on usury and lawful rates of interest.
Gregory The Illuminator, Saint (257-332): Martyr, bishop, apostle and patron saint of Armenia; helped free Armenia from the Persians.
Grijalva, Juan de (1489-1527): Completed exploration of Yucatan, discovering Mexico.
Grimaldi, Franceso Maria (1618-1663): Italian Jesuit, Physicist; discovered diffraction of light.
Guido d'Arezzo (995-1050): Benedictine monk musical theorist, reformer of musical notation.
Gutenberg, Johann (1400-1468): German; inventor of printing from movable type; first to print the Bible, 1452.
H.
Hauy, Rene Just (1743-18222): French priest, mineralogist; called the father of crystallography.
Hadyn, Franz Joseph (1732-1809): Austrian composer; earliest master of symphony and quartet; composer of Austrian national anthem.
Hebert, Louis Philippe (1850-1917): Canadian sculptor; member of Royal Canadian Academy, 1883.
Heis, Eduard (1806-1877): German astronomer; first ascertained the point of departure of meteors; drew chart of 5,421 stars, with first authentic map of milky way.
Helmont, Jan Baptista van (1577-1644): Flemish physician, chemist; introduced chemical methods in biological studies; introduced word "gas" to designate aeriform fluids.
Hengler, Lawrence (1806-1858): Priest; inventor of horizontal pendulum used in seismographs.
Hennepin, Louis (1640-1701): Franciscan; First European to see, describe and depict Niagara Falls; explored Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi.
Henry The Navigator (1394-1460): Portuguese prince; discovered Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde Islands; traced African coast as far as Sierra Leone.
Herdtrich, Christian Wolfgang (1625-1684): Austrian Jesuit missionary; probably wrote first Chinese-Latin dictionary; made Confucius known to Europeans.
Herrera, Francisco de, the Elder (1576-1656): Spanish painter; a founder of the National School of Spain; teacher of Velasquez.
Heude, Pierre (1836-1902): Jesuit Missionary; zoologist, authority on land molluscs of China.
Heywood, John (1497-1580): English poet, dramatist.
Holbein, Hans, the Younger (1497-1543): German portrait and historical painter; woodcut artist.
Hopkins, Gerard Manley (1844-1889): English Jesuit, poet; convert, 1866.
Hugh of Cluny (the Great), Saint (1024-1109): Abbot of Benedictine foundation at Cluny; supporter of popes in efforts to reform ecclesiastical abuses.
Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141): Theologian, philosopher, mystic; a founder of Scholasticism.
Hunyady, Janos (1387-1456): Hungarian defender of Christendom against the Turks; assisted at crucial defence of Belgrade, 1456.
Hulsmans, Joris Karl (1848-1907): French novelist; convert, 1895; Benedictine Oblate.
I.
Ingres, Jean (1780-1867): Leading French classical painter; historical subjects.
Innocent III (1161-1216): Pope; encouraged Fourth Crusade, promoted efforts against the Albigensians; convoked, presided at the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215; strenuously asserted supremacy of the Church over the State.
J.
Jacopone Da Todi (1230-1306): Franciscan poet; "Stabat Mater."
Jimenez, Juan Ramon (1881-1958): Spanish lyric poet, awarded Nobel prize for literature 1956.
John of Austria, Don (1547-1578): Spanish general; commander of fleet that defeated Turks as Lepanto, 1571.
Joliet, Louis (1645-1700): French Canadian explorer of Mississippi with Marquette, 1673.
Jorgensen, Johannes (1866-1956): Danish writer; convert, 1896; "St. Francis of Assisi".
Jussieu, Bernard de (1699-1777): French botanist; introduced a natural system for classification of plants.
Justinian I (483-565): Eastern Roman emperor; issued "Corpus Juris Civilis"; code of Roman law.
K.
Katona, Stephen (1732-1811): Jesuit historian; author of 40 volume history of Hungary.
Kaye-Smith, Sheila (1887-1956): English author; convert, 1929.
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963): First Catholic American President.
Kircher, Athanasius (1601-1680): German Jesuit, archaeologist; inventor of magic lantern; stated germ theory of disease.
Knox, Ronald A. (1888-1957): English priest, author; convert, ordained, 1919; created monsignor, 1936; translated Vulgate Bible into English.
Konarski, Stanislaus (1700-1773): Polish priest, educator, author; influential in development of modern Polish literature.
Kosciusko, Tadeusz (1746-1817): Polish patriot; served in Continental Army in American Revolution; headed Polish rebellion, 1794, became dictator; died in Switzerland.
L.
La Bruyere, Jean de (1645-1696): French critic and moralist.
Lacordaire, Jean Baptiste Henri (1802-1861): French Dominican, pulpit orator; member of French Academy.
Ladislaus, Saint (1040-1095): King of Hungary; enlarged kingdom, supported Pope Gregory VII; canonized 1192.
Laennec, Rene Theophile Hyacinthe (1781-1826): French physician; introduced auscultation, invented stethoscope.
La Fontaine, Jean de (1621-1695): French poet, known as a fabulist.
Lainez, Diego (1512-1565): Spanish, second general of the Society of Jesus; made important contribution to work of Council of Trent.
Lamarck, Jean Baptiste de Monet, Chevalier de (1744-1829): French botanist, zoologist; originator of evolutionary theory called Lamarckism; divided animals into vertebrates and invertebrates.
Langton, Stephen (d. 1228): Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, England; led English barons against King John; first of the subscribing witnesses to the Magna Charta.
Laplace, Pierre Simon (1749-1827): French astronomer, mathematician; proposed the nebular hypothesis.
LaSalle, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643-1687): Discovered Ohio River, explored valley of the Mississippi River for France.
Lasso, Orlando di (1532-1594): Belgian composer of over 2,000 works.
Latreille, Pierre Andre (1762-1833): French entomologist; classified insects and crustaceans.
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid (1841-1919): Canadian statesman; prime minister, 1896-1911.
Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent (1743-1794): French chemist, called father of modern chemistry.
Lehar, Ferenc or Franz (1870-1948): Hungarian composer of operettas, orchestral works.
Lemaitre, Jules (1853-1914): French writer, literary and dramatic critic.
L'Enfant, Pierre Charles (1754-1825): French engineer; drew plans for laying out of U.S. national capital, Washington, D.C.
Leo XIII (1810-1903): Pope, scholar, statesman, Latinist; author of many encyclicals; best known for encyclical "Rerum Novarum".
Leverrier, Urbain Jean Joseph (1811-1877): French astronomer; calculated presence of Neptune; founded the International Meteorological Institute.
Linacre, Thomas (1460-1524): English physician, humanist; assisted in founding of College of Physicians.
Lingard, John (1771-1851): English priest, author of historical works on England.
Lippi, Fra Filippo (1406-1469): Florentine painter; religious subjects.
Liszt, Franz von (1811-1886): Hungarian piano virtuoso, composer.
Lombard, Peter (1100-1160): Italian, Bishop of Paris; author of "Sententiarum Libri Quatuor", a synthesis of theology which exerted wide influence.
Lorraine, Claude de (1600-1682): French painter; landscape subjects.
Louis IX, Saint (1215-1270): King of France, 1226-1270; participated in Sixth Crusade; patron of Third Order of St. Francis; canonized 1297.
Louis the Great (1326-1382): King of Hungary, 1342-1382, and Poland, 1370-1382.
Lugo, John de (1582-1660): Spanish Jesuit, cardinal, theologian.
M.
Mabillion, Jean (1632-1707): Benedictine monk, father of science of palaeography; "Acta Sanctorum Ordinis St. Benedicti."
MacMahon, Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de (1808-1893): Marshal of France; military leader in Crimean War, Franco-Prussian War, other campaigns; president of France, 1873-1879.
Magellan, Ferdinand (1480-1521): Portuguese navigator; led expedition which first circumnavigated globe; discovered Strait of Magellan, Ladrones (Marianas), Philippines where he was slain.
Magsaysay, Ramon (1907-1957): Philippine statesman; greatest contribution was crushing of the Communist (Huk) Rebellion in 1948-53; third president of the Philippine Republic.
Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911): Bohemian composer and conductor; convert February 23, 1897.
Malherbe, Francois de (1555-1628): French poet; influenced exact usage of language.
Mallinckrodt, Hermann von (1821-1874): German leader of Centre Party against Kulturkampf.
Malory, Sir Thomas (d. 1470): Compiler of the "Morte d'Arthur", the earliest piece of English literary prose.
Malpighi, Marcello (1628-1694): Italian anatomist; called father of microscopic anatomy.
Malus, Etienne Louis (1775-1812): French engineer, physicist; discovered polarization of light, invented polariscope.
Mangan, James C. (1803-1849): Irish poet.
Manning, Henry Edward (1808-1892): English cardinal, author; convert 1851.
Mannix, Daniel Joseph (1864-1963): Archbishop of Melbourne (1917-1963) acknowledged outstanding leader of Church in Australia for four decades.
Mansard, Nicolas Francois (1598-1666): French architect.
Mantegna, Andrea (1431-1506): Italian painter, muralist, engraver; leader of Paduan School.
Manutius, Aldus (1450-1515): Italian scholar, printer, publisher; founded Aldine press.
Manzoni, Alessandro (1785-1873): Italian poet, novelist; "I Promessi Sposi."
Marconi, Guglielmo (1874-1937): Italian engineer, inventor; outstanding contributor to development of wireless telegraphy, radio; Nobel prize for physics, 1909.
Mariotte, Edme (1620-1684): French physicist researcher in hydrodynamics.
Marquette, Jacques (1637-1675): French Jesuit; discovered upper course of Mississippi, 1673.
Martini, Giambattista (1706-1784): Italian Franciscan; composer of Church music, theorist and teacher.
Masaccio, Tomaso (1401-1428): Italian painter, fresco artist of Florentine School; influenced advance to Renaissance painting; called father of modern art.
Massillon, Jean Baptiste (1663-1742): French preacher; Bishop of Clermont.
Matthias Corvinus (Hunyady) (1440-1490): One of Hungary's greatest kings, 1458-1490; repelled Turks, fought against Bohemians, Frederick III, patron or arts, literature; introduced Golden Age in Hungary; founded "Corvina" library.
Maxmilian I, the Great (1573-1651): Duke and elector of Bavaria; opposed Protestant cause; founded Catholic League, 1609,
Mazarin, Jules (1602-1661): Cardinal; prime minister of France, under Louis XIII and Louis XIV; concluded Thirty Years' War by the Treaty of Westphalia; strengthened France as a European power.
Mendel, Gregor Johann (1822-1884): Austrian, Augustinian monk, botanist; formulated Mendelian laws of heredity.
Mercier, Desire Joseph (1851-1926): Cardinal Archbishop of Malines; outstanding in Belgian public and intellectual life, promoter of neo-scholastic philosophy, leader against demands of German invaders in 1914; restored Louvain University after World War 1; in 1924 began "Malines Conversations", an attempt to unify the Anglican and Roman churches.
Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648): French mathematician.
Mestrovic, Ivan (1883-1962): Yugoslav sculptor.
Metternich, Klemens Wenzel, Nepomuk Lothar von (1773-1859): Austrian statesman and diplomat.
Meynell, Alice Thompson (1847-1922): English poet, essayist, publisher, leader in Catholic literary revival in England; convert. Her husband, Wilfrid Meynell (1852-1918): Journalist, biographer; he and his wife discovered Francis Thompson; convert.
Mezzofanti, Giuseppe (1774-1849): Italian linguist, cardinal, custodian-in-chief of Vatican Library.
Michelangelo, Buonarroti (1474-1564): Italian architect, sculptor, painter, poet; outstanding figure of the Renaissance.
Millet, Jean Francois (1814-1875): French painter; landscape and religious subjects.
Mistral, Gabriella (pen name of Lucila Godoy De Alcayaga) (1889-1957): Chilean poet; Nobel prize for literature, 1945.
Mohler, Johann Adam (1796-1838): German theologian.
Mohr, Josef (1792-1848): Austrian priest, poet; "Silent Night".
Molina, Luis de (1535-1600): Jesuit theologian; author of "Concordia", expounding a system for the reconciliation of grace and free will, called Molinism.
Mondino (dim. for Raimondo) Dei Luicci (1275- c.1327): Italian anatomist.
Monge, Gaspard (1746-1818): French mathematician; called founder of descriptive geometry.
Montcalm, Marquis Louis Joseph de (17121759): French marshal, military commander in Canada; fatally wounded in Battle of Quebec.
Montessori, Maria (1870-1952): Italian physician, educator; originator of Montessori method for education of children.
Moore, Thomas (1779-1852): National lyricist of Ireland.
More, Thomas Saint (1477-1535): Chancellor of England, author and martyr.
Morgagni, Giovanni Battista (1682-1771): Italian physician; founder of anatomical pathology.
Mozart, J. C. Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791): Austrian composer of more than 600 works in a wide range of forms.
Muller, Johann (1436-1476): German mathematician, astronomer; assisted in calendar reform.
Muller, Johannes Peter (1801-1858): German physiologist, comparative anatomist.
Murillo, Bartolome Esteban (1617-1682): Spanish artist of the Andalusian School; master of colour contrast; religious subjects.
N.
Nelaton, Auguste (1807-1873): French surgeon; inventor of the Nelaton probe.
Newman, John Henry (1801-1890): Leader of Oxford Movement; convert, 1845; ordained to priesthood, 1847; founded Oratorians in England; master of prose style; author of historical and apologetical works, poems, novels, "The Idea of a University,"
Nicholas of Lyra (1270-1340): Franciscan biblical scholar.
Niza, Marcos de (d.1558): Franciscan missionary, explored parts of Arizona and New Mexico, 1539; accompanied Coronado's expedition.
Nobili, Leopoldo (1784-1835): Italian physicist, inventor of the thermopile.
Nollet, Jean-Antoine (1700-1770): French priest, physicist; researcher in electricity; invented an electroscope.
Noyes, Alfred (18811-1958): English poet; convert, 1927.
O.
Ocampo, Sebastian (1466-1521): Circumnavigated Cuba, proved its insular character.
O'Connell, Daniel (1775-1847): "Liberator" of Ireland; responsible for Catholic Emancipation, 1829.
Oertel, Abraham (1527-1598): Flemish geographer; publisher of an atlas.
O'Higgins, Bernardo (1778-1842): Chilean soldier, statesman. "Liberator of Chile."
Olaf (II) Haraldsson, Saint (995-1030): King of Norway, 1016-1028; attempted conversion of his country; killed in battle; patron of Norway; canonized, 1164.
O'Reilly, John Boyle (1844-1890): Irish poet, editor of the Boston "Pilot" from 1870.
Orellana, Francisco de (1500-1546): Spanish navigator, explored the Amazon River.
Origen (185-254): Teacher and writer, head of catechetical schools at Alexandria, Caesarea; author of biblical, theological works.
Orosius, Paul (380-???): Spanish priest; author of book of universal history.
Ozanam, Frederic [now Blessed] (1813-1853): French historian; a founder of St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Ozanam, Jacques (1640-1717): French mathematician.
P.
Pacioli, Luca (1450?-1520?): Italian Franciscan, mathematician; author of first description of double-entry book-keeping.
Paderewski, Ignace (1860-1941): Polish pianist, conductor, composer; first premier of Poland after World War 1.
Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da (1526-1594): Italian composer of Church music in medieval modes; noted for polyphonic style.
Palladio, Andrea (1518-1580): Italian architect; controlling influence of 17th century architecture called Palladian.
Papini, Giovanni (188I-1956): Italian writer; convert, 1918; "Life of Christ".
Pare, Ambroise (1517-1590): French surgeon; called father of modern surgery; introduced artery ligature.
Paris, Bruno Paulin Gaston (1839-1903): French philologist; for 30 years the highest authority on the philology of Romance languages.
Parsch, O.S.A., Pius (1884-1954): Austrian theologian, Scripture scholar, liturgist,
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662): French philosopher, scientist; demonstrated that a column of air has weight; "Pensees."
Pasteur, Louis (1822-1895): French chemist; developed a vaccine against hydrophobia; founded Pasteur Institute; father of bacteriology.
Pastor, Ludwig von (1854-1928): German historian; "The History of the Popes from the Beginning of the Middle Ages."
Patmore, Coventry (1823-1890): English poet; convert, 1864.
Pazmany, Peter (1570-1637): Hungarian Jesuit, cardinal; leader of Counter Reformation; translated Bible into Hungarian; called founder of modern Hungarian literature.
Pelouze, Theophile Jules (1807-1867): French chemist; developed production of guncotton, nitro-cellulose.
Pepin the Short (714-768): King of the Franks, son of Charles Martel, father of Charlemagne; first Frank crowned with religious ceremonies; defeated Lombards and restored central Italy to the Holy See.
Perugino, II (Pietro Vannucci) (1446-1523): Italian painter; leader of Umbrian School; teacher of Raphael; religious subjects.
Petau (Petavius), Denys (1583-1652): French Jesuit, theologian; called father of the history of dogma.
Petrarch, (Francesco Petrarca) (1304-1374): Italian poet.
Piazzi, Giuseppe (1746-1826): Italian monk, astronomer; discovered Ceres, first known asteroid.
Picard, Jean (1620-1682): French astronomer accurately measured degree of a meridian.
Pinturicchio, Bernardino di Betto di Biagio (1454-1513): Italian painter of the Umbrian School; frescoes, historical and religious subjects.
Pisano, Andrea (1270-1348), Nino (1315-1368) Italian sculptors.
Pisano, Nicolo (1225-1278): Italian, greatest of Romanesque sculptors. His son, Giovanni (1240-1320): Italian Gothic sculptor.
Pitra, Jean Baptiste Francois (1812-1889): French cardinal, archaeologist; discovered the "Inscription of Autun".
Pius X, Pope, Saint (1835-1914): Initiated far-reaching reform of Church music and restoration of Gregorian Chant, by a "motu proprio" of 1903.
Pizarro, Francisco (1470-1541): Spanish explorer, conqueror of Peru.
Plumier, Charles (1646-1704): Botanical explorer of Antilles, Central America.
Plunket, Bl. Oliver [now Saint] (1629-1681): Irish martyr; theologian; Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland; beatified 1920.
Pole, Reginald (1500-1558): Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury; opposed divorce of Henry VIII; papal legate; participant in Council of Trent.
Polo, Marco (1254-1324): Early Italian traveller to China; "Book of Marco Polo".
Ponce De Leon (1460-1521): Spanish explorer; discovered Florida.
Pope, Alexander (1688-1744): English poet; master of the rimed couplet.
Pouget, Jean Francois Albert du, Marquis de Nadaillac (1817-1904): French authority on cave drawings.
Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665): French painter historical and landscape subjects.
Prohaszka, Ottokar (1858-1927): Bishop, "Modern Apostle of Hungary"; preacher, author of 25 volumes.
Provancher, Leon Abel (1820-1892): Called father of natural history in Canada.
Puccini, Giacomo (1858-1924): Italian operatic composer.
Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812-1852): English architect.
Puvis De Chavannes, Pierre (1824-1898): French muralist.
Q.
Quinones, Francis (1482-1540): Franciscan cardinal, liturgist; worked on revision of breviary.
R.
Racine, Jean Baptiste (1639-1689): French dramatic poet.
Rameau, Jean-Philippe (1683-1764): French organist, music theorist, operatic composer.
Raphael, Santi (1483-1520): Italian painter of religious, portrait, other subjects; architect of St. Peter's: among greatest of Renaissance painters.
Regnault, Henri Victor (1810-1878): French chemist, authority in thermometry.
Reiffenstuel, Anaclete (1611-1703): Franciscan canonist.
Reni, Guido (1575-1642): Italian painter of the Eclectic School; religious and other subjects.
Ribera, Jose (1588-1652): Spanish painter of Neapolitan School, etcher; religious subjects.
Ricci, Matteo (1552-1610): Italian Jesuit missionary in India and China; [re-]introduced Christianity in China; author.
Riccioli, Giovanni Battista (1598-1671): Italian Jesuit, astronomer; introduced lunar nomenclature in use today.
Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, Duc de (1585-1642): French cardinal, statesman; founder of the French Academy, 1634.
Robbia, Luca della (1400-1482): Florentine sculptor; developed a glaze for terra-cotta ware (Robbia work).
Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de (1725-1807): Leader of French forces in American Revolution.
Roncalli, Angelo Giuseppe (Pope John XXIII) [now Blessed] (1881-1963): Second Vatican Council, Church Unity.
Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio (1792-1868): Italian operatic composer and innovator in orchestration.
Roualt, Georges (1871-1958): French painter of modern school; convert.
Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640): Flemish painter; great colourist; landscape, portrait, historical, religious subjects.
Rubruquis, Guillaume (William of Ruysbroeck) (1220-1293): Franciscan missionary and traveller in the East, especially China.
Ruysbroeck, John Blessed (1293-1381): Flemish mystical theologian; beatified, 1908.
S.
Sahagun, Bernardino de (c.1500-1590): Spanish Franciscan, missionary, Aztec archaeologist.
San Gallo, Giuliano Giamberti da (1445-1516): his brother, Antonio da San Gallo, the Elder (1455-1534): their nephew. Antonio da San Gallo, the Younger (1483-1546): Italian architects.
San Martin, Jose de (1778-1850): South American soldier, statesman; defeated Spanish in Argentina, established independence of Chile, proclaimed independence and called "Protector of Peru".
Santorini, Giovanni Domenico (1681-1737): Italian physician, anatomist; discovered emissary veins leading out of sinuses, risory muscles, fissures in external ear.
Sarbiewski, Mathias Casimir (1595-1640): Polish Jesuit, called the "Horace of Poland".
Sarto, Andrea del (1487-1531): Florentine painter; great colourist, master of light and shade; religious subjects.
Scarlatti, Alessandro (1659-1725): Italian operatic composer; called founder of modern opera.
Scheiner, Christoph (1579-1650): German Jesuit, astronomer; made independent discovery of sun spots; invented a pantograph.
Schlegel, Fredrich von (1772-1829): German Romantic poet, essayist, novelist; convert, 1803.
Schmid, Christoph von (1768-1854): Educator, pioneer writer of children's books.
Schmidt, Wilhelm (1868-1954): German Divine word priest, ethnologist and historian of religions; "The Origin of the Idea of God."
Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828): Austrian composer of symphonic and other orchestral works.
Schwann, Theodor (1810-1882): German anatomist, physiologist; founder of cell theory.
Schwarz, Berhold (13th or 14th c.): German Franciscan; called inventor of gunpowder. [Certainly the first to use it for engineering or industrial purposes.]
Secchi, Angelo (1818-1878): Italian Jesuit astronomer; professor at Georgetown University; did spectroscopic work on sun, stars, classification of stars; invented meteorograph.
Segura Y Saenz, Pedro (1880-1957): Spanish cardinal, primate of Spain; outspoken critic of Nazism, Fascism and Franco regime.
Seidl, Johann Gabriel (1804-1875): Austrian journalist, poet, author of words for Austrian national anthem.
Semmelweis, Ignaz Philipp (1818-1865) Hungarian physician; pioneer of antiseptic treatment in obstetrics.
Shea, Sir Ambrose (1815-1905): Member of House of Assembly of Newfoundland; Governor of the Bahamas; laid the Bahamas-Florida cable.
Sobieski, John III (1624-1696): Polish king, soldier; rescued Vienna from Turks, caused their expulsion from Poland and Hungary.
Southwell, Blessed Robert [now Saint] (1561-1595): English Jesuit, poet, martyr.
Spallanzani, Lazzaro (1729-1799): Italian naturalist; experimenter on digestion, other functions; disproved theory of spontaneous generation,
Stensen, Niels (1638-1687): Danish bishop, anatomist; discovered excretory duct of parotid glands, convert 1667.
Stephen, Saint (1st Century) philanthropist, first Christian martyr.
Stephen of Hungary, Saint (975-1038): King, "Apostle of Hungary"; canonized. 1087.
Stoss, Veit (1440-1533): German sculptor, master wood-carver.
Stradivari, Antonio (1644-1737): Famous violin maker of Cremona.
Sturzo, Luigi (1871-1959): Italian priest-statesman.
Suarez, Francisco (1548-1617): Spanish Jesuit theologian; considered a founder of international law; author of many works; "Doctor Eximus".
T
Takamine, Jokichi (1854-1922): Japanese-American chemist; developed Takadias-tase, isolated adrenaline; convert.
Tasso, Torquato (1544-1595): Italian poet.
Teilhard De Chardin, Pierre (1881-1955): French Jesuit; palaeontologist and explorer.
Thomas, Charles Louis Ambrose (1811-1896): Alsatian composer of operatic and other works.
Thomas A Becket, Saint (1118-1170): Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, chancellor under Henry II; murdered for upholding rights of Church; canonized, 1172.
Thomas A Kempis (1380-1471): Dutch Augustinian, considered author of the "Imitation of Christ".
Thomas Aquinas Saint (1225-1274): greatest mind in Western civilization; philosopher, theologian, writer, Dominican priest and Doctor of the Church.
Thomas More, Saint (1477-1535): English martyr, statesman, chancellor under Henry VIII; opposed his divorce, refused to renounce authority of the papacy; beheaded; canonized, 1935; "Utopia."
Thomas of Celano (1200-1255); Italian Franciscan; biographer of St. Francis of Assisi: "Dies Irae".
Thompson, Francis (1859-1907): English poet; "The Hound of Heaven".
Tieffentaller, Joseph (1710-1785): Jesuit missionary geographer.
Tintoretta, Jacopo Robusti (1518-1594): Italian painter of Venetian School; religious and portrait subjects.
Titian or Tiziano Vecelli (1477-1576): Italian painter, greatest of the Venetian School; frescoes in wide range of subjects; portraits.
Tocqueville, Alexis Charles de (1805-1859): French writer, statesman; "La Democratie en Amerique."
Torricelli Evangelista (1608-1647): Italian mathematician, physicist; improved telescope, invented barometer.
Toscanelli, Paolo dal Pozzo (1397-1482): Italian physician, geographer; probably aided Columbus.
Toscanini, Arturo (1867-1957): Italian operatic and symphony conductor.
Tulasne, Louis Rene (1815-1885): French botanist; called founder of modern mycology.
U.
Undset, Sigrid (1882-1949): Norwegian novelist Nobel prize for literature, 1928; "Kristen Lavransdatter"; convert, 1924.
V.
Valentine, Basil (born 1394): Benedictine monk; founder of analytical chemistry.
Vandyke (Van Dyck), Sir Anthony (1599-1641): Flemish associate of Rubens, English court painter; religious and portrait subjects.
Vasari, Giorgio (1511-1574): Italian painter, architect; founder of modern art history and criticism.
Vasquez, Gabriel (1551-1604): Jesuit theologian.
Vega, Lope Felix de (Vega) Carpio (1562-1635): Spanish priest, dramatic poet; founder of Spanish national drama.
Velasquez, Diego Rodrguez de Silva y (1599-1660): Spanish painter; master of naturalism; historical, portrait, religious and other subjects.
Verdi, Giuseppe (1813-1901): Italian composer of operatic and other works.
Verne, Jules (1828-1905): French writer; scientific fiction.
Vernier, Pierre (1580-1637): French mathematician; formulated vernier scale for accurate linear and angular magnitude.
Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588): Italian painter of Venetian School; "Painter of Pageants," religious frescoes and paintings.
Verrazano, Giovanni da (1485-1528): Italian navigator; explored coast of North America for Francis I of France; claimed by his countrymen to be discoverer of Hudson River.
Verrocchio, Andrea del (1435-1488): Florentine sculptor and painter of Tuscan School.
Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564): Belgian anatomist, founder of modern anatomy.
Vespucci, Amerigo (1451-1512): Called discoverer of mainland of America, named after him.
Vico, Francesco de (1805-1848): Jesuit astronomer; discovered six comets.
Viete (Vieta), Francois, Seigneir de La Bigottiere (1540-1603): French mathematician; founder of of modern algebra, which he applied to geometry and trigonometry.
Vignola, Giacomo Barozzi da (1507-1573): Italian architect; architectural theorist.
Vincent De Paul, Saint (1581?-1660): Founder of Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians, Lazarists) and Sisters (Daughters) of Charity; declared patron of all charitable organizations and works by Leo XIII.
Vincent of Beauvais (1190-1264): French Dominican; author of comprehensive scientific encyclopaedia.
Vinci, Leonardo da (1452-1519): Florentine painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist; paintings mainly of religious subjects; founder of science of hydraulics, researcher in meteorology, anatomy, mathematics.
Vladimir, Saint (956-1015): "The Great"; first Christian ruler of Russia.
Volta, Alessandro, Count (1754-1827): Italian physicist; early researcher in electricity; the volt named for him.
Vorosmarty, Michael (1800-1855): Hungarian poet; his lyric poem "Syozat" became a national anthem.
W.
Waldseemuller, Martin (1470-1518): German cartographer; made first modern atlas; first to use the name America.
Weber, Karl Maria von (1786-1826): German composer of operatic and other works; a founder of German opera.
Wilde, Oscar (1856-1900): Irish Poet; dramatist; reconciled to the Church before his death in France.
William of Ockham (Occam) (1300-1349): English Franciscan; philosopher, logician; "Doctor Invincibilis."
William the Conqueror (1027-1087): Duke of Normandy; invaded England, 1066. defeated Harold at Hastings, crowned King of England.
Winckelmann, Johann Joachim (1717-1768): German art historian. classical archaeologist; convert, 1754.
Windle, Sir Betram (1858-1929): Scientist; author of works (at Toronto University) intended to explain relations between scientific progress and Church teachings.
Windthorst, Ludwig (1812-1891): German statesman, leader of Centre Party.
Wiseman, Nicholas Patrick (1802-1865): Cardinal, Archbishop of Westminster; influenced Catholic revival. encouraged Oxford Movement.
X.
Ximenez (Jimenez) De Cisneros, Francisco (1437-1517): Spanish Franciscan, cardinal, statesman.
Z.
Zrinyi, Nicholas, Count (1620-1664): Hungarian general, poet, author of first Hungarian epic "The Fall of Szigets".
Zumarraga, Juan de (1468-1548): Franciscan, first Bishop of Mexico; supported rights of Indians, extended missions; introduced printing press into New World. Authorized the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Zurbaran, Francisco de (1598-1664): Spanish painter; religious and monastic portrait subjects.