Celestino Schiaparelli (14 May 1841 – 26 October 1919) was an Italian Arabist and philologist and a leading representative of Italian Arabic studies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Savigliano, Piedmont, he belonged to the scholarly circle formed around Michele Amari and is regarded as one of Amari's most eminent pupils and successors. He taught Arabic in Florence and, from 1875, at the University of Rome, where he became known for his editions and translations of Arabic texts relating to Italy and Sicily.
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Biography
Schiaparelli was born on 14 May 1841 in Savigliano, present-day Piedmont, then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He completed his secondary schooling in Savigliano, but his family's financial difficulties prevented him from pursuing university study and compelled him to seek employment. In 1861 he entered the postal administration, first serving in Urbino and then, after a transfer, in Turin and later Florence. Despite the constraints of this career, he continued his studies privately, encouraged in part by the example of his elder brother Giovanni Schiaparelli and his uncle Luigi Schiaparelli.