| Type: | Bishop |
| Honorific-Prefix: | Most Reverend |
| Agazio di Somma | |
| Bishop of Catanzaro | |
| Church: | Catholic Church |
| Diocese: | Diocese of Catanzaro |
| Term: | 1664–1671 |
| Predecessor: | Filippo Visconti |
| Successor: | Carlo Sgombrino |
| Consecration: | 26 January 1659 |
| Consecrated By: | Marcantonio Franciotti |
| Birth Date: | 1591 |
| Death Date: | 1 October 1671 (age 80) |
| Death Place: | Catanzaro, Italy |
| Previous Post: | Bishop of Cariati e Cerenzia (1659–1664) |
Agazio di Somma (1591 – 1 October 1671) was a Roman Catholic prelate and Baroque writer who served as Bishop of Catanzaro (1664–1671)[1] and Bishop of Cariati e Cerenzia (1659–1664).[2]
Agazio di Somma was born in Simeri, Italy in 1591.[3] [4] On 13 January 1659, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Alexander VII as Bishop of Cariati e Cerenzia.On 26 January 1659, he was consecrated bishop by Marcantonio Franciotti, Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Pace.On 28 April 1664, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Alexander VII as Bishop of Catanzaro. He served as Bishop of Catanzaro until his death on 1 October 1671.[5] [6] [7]
Agazio di Somma was a prolific writer. He published a chronicle of earthquakes in Calabria during 1638-1641, titled Istorico racconto de' terremoti della Calabria dal 1638 al 1641 (Naples, 1641) and an Italian life of saint Pius V, translated into French by André Félibien in 1672.[8] In a discourse before the Accademia degli Umoristi, he proclaimed that Giambattista Marino's Adone surpassed its model, Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. Ironically, two of Marino's staunchest disciples, Girolamo Preti and Antonio Bruni, were the first to denounce the possibility that the Adone might rank superior to the Gerusalemme. The episode annoyed Marino and embittered him against his friends.