Leto, Pomponio Giulio (1428-1498)

Italian humanist and teacher. A dedicated scholar of Latin, who even adopted an ancient Roman lifestyle, he played the leading role in the founding of the Roman Academy in the late 1450s, which developed in imitation of the Platonic Academy in Florence.

Born in Calabria, an illegitimate member of the Sanseverini family, he was educated by the scholar Lorenzo Valla. He was a totally dedicated Latinist, refusing even to learn Greek, and he modelled his life on that of Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato).