Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti [SEP] native language
Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti
Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti (19 September 1774 – 15 March 1849) was an Italian cardinal and famed hyperpolyglot.
Life.
Born to humble parents in Bologna, he showed exceptional mnemonic skills as well as a flair for music and foreign language learning from a very young age. He studied at the Piarists where he had the chance to meet several missionaries from various countries. By speaking with them he began learning several new languages including Swedish, German, Spanish and Southern American native languages as well as studying
the Carbonari, Antonio Ranieri was forced to leave Naples in 1827 and settle in Florence (Grand Duchy of Tuscany), a city open to political refugees, the following year. In Florence he met important intellectuals and writers such as Pietro Giordani, Alessandro Poerio, Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, Pietro Colletta, Giuseppe Ricciardi and, above all, he met Giacomo Leopardi for the first time. In Bologna (Papal States), he was briefly a pupil of the famed hyperpolyglot Cardinal Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, then moved to Paris, where