DENINA

denina, carlo giovanni maria (1731-1813), italian historian, was born at revello, piedmont, in 1731, and was educated at saluzzo and turin. in 1753 he was appointed to the chair of humanity at pignerol, but he was soon compelled by the influence of the jesuits to retire from it. in 1756 he graduated as doctor in theology, and began authorship with a theological treatise. promoted to the professorship of humanity and rhetoric in the college of turin, he published (1769-1772) his _delle revoluzioni d'italia_, the work on which his reputation is mainly founded. collegiate honours accompanied the issue of its successive volumes, which, however, at the same time multiplied his foes and stimulated their hatred. in 1782, at frederick the great's invitation, he went to berlin, where he remained for many years, in the course of which he published his _vie et regne de frederic ii_ (berlin, 1788) and _la prusse litteraire sous frederic ii_ (3 vols., berlin, 1790-1791). his _delle revoluzioni della germania_ was published at florence in 1804, in which year he went to paris as the imperial librarian, on the invitation of napoleon. at paris he published in 1805 his _tableau de la haute italie, et des alpes qui l'entourent_. he died there on the 5th of december 1813. denis (dionysius), saint, first bishop of paris, patron saint of france. according to gregory of tours (_hist. franc._ i. 30), he was sent into gaul at the time of the emperor decius. he suffered martyrdom at the village of catulliacus, the modern st denis. his tomb was situated by the side of the roman road, where rose the priory of st-denis-de-l'estree, which existed until the 18th century. in the 5th century the clergy of the diocese of paris built a basilica over the tomb. about 625 dagobert, son of lothair ii., founded in honour of st denis, at some distance from the basilica, the monastery where the greater number of the kings of france have been buried. the festival of st denis is celebrated on the 9th of october. with his name are already associated in the _martyrologium hieronymianum_ the priest rusticus and the deacon eleutherius. other traditions--of no value--are connected with the name of st denis. a false interpretation of gregory of tours, apparently dating from 724, represented st denis as having received his mission from pope clement, and as having suffered martyrdom under domitian (81-96). hilduin, abbot of st-denis in the first half of the 9th century, identified denis of paris with denis (dionysius) the areopagite (mentioned in acts xviii. 34), bishop of athens (eusebius, _hist. eccl._ iii. 4. 10, iv. 23. 3), and naturally attributed to him the celebrated writings of the pseudo-areopagite. st denis is generally represented carrying his head in his hands. see _acta sanctorum_, octobris, iv. 696-987; _bibliotheca hagiographica graeca_, p. 37 (brussels, 1895); _bibliotheca hagiographica latina_, no. 2171-2203 (brussels, 1899); j. havet, _les origines de saint-denis_, in his collected works, i. 191-246 (paris, 1896); cahier, _caracteristiques des saints_, p. 761 (paris, 1867). (h. de.)