Perrone, GIOVANNI, Jesuit theologian, b. at Chieri, Italy, March 11, 1794; d. at Rome, August 28, 1876. After studying theology and obtaining the doctorate at Turin, he entered the Society of Jesus on December 14, 1815. The Society had been reestablished by Pius VII only a year before, and Perrone was very soon appointed to teach theology at Orvieto. A few years later he was made professor of dogmatic theology in the Roman College, and held this post till the Roman Republic of 1848 forced him to seek refuge in England. After an exile of three years, Perrone again took the chair of dogma in the Roman College, and, excepting the years of his rectorship at Ferrara, taught theology till prevented by old age. He was consultor of various congregations and was active in opposing the errors of George Hermes, as well as in the discussions which ended in the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception (cf. “Annali delle scienze religiose”, VII). Of Perrone’s many writings, the most important is the “Praelectiones Theologicae”, which has reached a thirty-fourth edition in nine volumes. The compendium which Perrone made of this work has reached its forty-seventh edition in two volumes. His complete theological lectures were published in French and have run through several editions; portions have been translated into Spanish, Polish, German, Dutch, and other languages. Sommervogel mentions forty-four different works by this great fellow-professor of Passaglia and Franzelin in the Roman College.
WALTER DRUM