Miguel Casiri
(1710–1791) was a learned Maronite and Orientalist. He was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. He studied at Rome, where he lectured on Arabic, Syriac, Aramaic, philosophy and theology. In 1748 he went to Spain and was employed in the royal library at Madrid. He was successively appointed a member of the Royal Academy of History, interpreter of oriental languages to the king, and joint-librarian at the Escorial. In 1763 he became principal librarian, a post which he appears to have held till his death in 1791.
