Mario Pagano

Mario Pagano (8 December 1748 – 29 October 1799) was an Italian controversial author, jurisconsult and man of letters.

Biography and works

He was born in Brienza in the southern Province of Potenza on 8 December 1748. At twenty he became special lecturer in moral philosophy at the University of Naples, at the same time practising law. He was friend of Gaetano Filangieri, entering the masonry with him.

"Saggi politici" (1783-5) provided a philosophical history of the Kingdom of Naples, arguing against torture and capital punishment and advocating more benign penal codes.

He published various works on criminal jurisprudence, e.g., "Considerazioni sulla procedura criminale". He became professor of criminal law in 1785. He likewise published in 1792 some political essays on barbarian peoples and the origin and decadence of civilized society and of nations, revealing the idea of Vico.

As early as 1768 he had written a political review of the entire Roman legislation, which was much applauded. In this is discerned the influence of Montesquieu and in general of the philosophy then in vogue. The novelty, and in part the audacity, of these theories created some enemies, and although he enjoyed the favour of the Court, he was imprisoned. His writings, accused of irreligion, were subjected to theological examinations, which resulted in his favour.

In 1794 he defended Vincenzo Galiani, Vincenzo Vitalini, and Emanuele De Deo, three alleged conspirators against Ferdinand IV; after they were sentenced to death, Pagano, accused by a lawyer convicted of corruption, was deprived of his professorship, arrested, imprisoned and expelled from the kingdom.

When in 1799 the revolutionary French troops established the Parthenopaean Republic at Naples, Pagano was one of the most active collaborators. He wrote the constitution, built up on the remains of the French Constitution of 1793.

On the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Pagano was on the side of those republicans who made the last resistance at the Castel Nuovo. Contrary to the agreement of capitulation, he was imprisoned and condemned. In prison he composed æsthetic discourses and produced a number of lyric and dramatic compositions, of which only two were printed, the tragedy "Gerbino", and the melodrama "Agamemnon". He was executed at Naples on 29 October 1799 with Domenico Cirillo, Giorgio Pigliacelli and Ignazio Ciaia.

Sources

• Nico Perrone. La Loggia della Philantropia. Un religioso danese a Napoli prima della rivoluzione. Palermo: Sellerio publ., 2006. ISBN 8-83892-141-5.
• Catholic Encyclopedia article  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

Persondata
Name	Pagano, Mario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 December 1748
Place of birth
Date of death	29 October 1799
Place of death