FICINUS, MARSILIUS (MARSILIO FICINO): Italian scholar and Platonic philosopher; b. at Florence Oct. 19, 1433; d. at Careggi (3 m. n. of Florence) Oct. 1, 1499. He was the son of a physician of Cosmo de' Medici and had the patronage of the Medici's during three generations. He studied under Gemistos Plethon (q.v.), enjoyed the intercourse of the leaders of the Renaissance, became a teacher of philosophy and the head of the Platonic Academy established in Florence by Cosmo de' Medici, and numbered among his pupils such men as Pico della Mirandola, Reuchlin, and Sixtus IV. Convinced of the essential identity of Platonic philosophy and religion, since the truth and wisdom sought by the philosopher are only the truth and wisdom of God, he took orders in 1473, preached in Florence, and was promoted to a canonry in the cathedral. Through his Latin translations from Plato and the Neoplatonists, Plotinus, Jamblichus, and Proclus, he gave a tremendous impetus to Platonic studies in Italy, and thus influenced greatly the development of European philosophy. His most important original work is, Theologia Platonica de animorum immortalitate (Florence, 1482). The first complete edition of his works was published at Basel in two volumes.