Theophile Francois Barthelemi (Teofilo) Gay

Born in Pomaretto on 10 April 1851, Teofilo Gay was the second oldest of eleven children of Rev. Giovanni Francesco Gay (31 Aug 1819 – 24 Jan 1867), professor at Pomaretto's Scuola Latina, and his wife Adele. In 1854 the family moved to Villar Pellice (where his father had been born), where Francesco was called as pastor. After 8 years at the Collegio Valdese in Torre Pellice, and the death of his father in 1867, Gay undertook a year's preparatory theological training in Geneva under Merle d'Aubigné at the École de Théologie de l’Oratoire. Still too young to commence theological studies, Gay transferred to Kornthal in Württemberg, and then spent 18 months as guest of an aunt at Aja. In October 1869 he gained a dispensation from the Facoltà di Teologia and returned to Geneva for three years.

Granted the licentiate of theology on 15 Aug 1872, d'Aubigné invited him to go to London as the assistant pastor of the French church in Bayswater conducted by pastore Du Pontet de la Harpe. During this time he connected to English Methodists, and when Leroy Monroe Vernon founded the Methodist Episcopal Church in Italy, Gay (though ordained in Switzerland through the Reformed Church of Lausanne) connected to their work. He returned to Italy in August 1873, but went back to England to marry (on 25 Sept 1873) the Indian-born Harriet Isabella Howard (b. 14.7.1854, Calcutta, India-8 February 1891), the daughter of William Howard, Inspector of Ships, at the Church of St Stephen's Paddington. Together they would have four sons (Giulio Cesare, Teofilo Howard, Gaio and Lino Renato) before her death on 8 Feb 1891. His mother would be a constant follower of their household, assisting with the family and the children.

On 2 Apr 1874 Gay wrote to the Tavola Valdese, asking to be ordained in the Waldensian pastorate, holding that his involvement in another denomination should be considered an enrichment rather than an obstacle. The Tavola replied that his request would be granted only on condition that he immediately left the Methodist Episcopal Church. Gay refused the condition, noting that such behaviour would be disrespectful to the community which he had gathered and with which he had been entrusted. It was for this reason that he turned to the National Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud (Chiesa Nazionale Evangelica Riformata del Cantone di Vaud), receiving ordination on 24 Sept 1874 in the cathedral of Lausanne. In 1875, Gay began to pastor the first evangelical Italian church in Rome, opening the Chiesa Evangelica del Foro Romano in via Cremona.

He was particularly known for his anti-papal apologetics. In 1889 he transferred back to the Waldensian Church, after disagreement about the direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Italy, which was being brought more tightly under American control.

In 1877 he undertook a journey to the Holy Land, writing a small volume (La Terra del Cristo: viaggio in oriente, 1878). The narrative was markedly successful, being translated into various languages, and was republished in illustrated editions. In the same year, he relocated to Firenze, where he added to his pastoral activity an energetic speaking career. Among other things, he joined the Freemasons, as a 33° grade Mason with responsibility as Grand Ceremonialist in the section presided over by Bonaventura Mazzarella, pastor of the Chiesa Cristiana Libera and deputy of the Parliament.

He was head of the Circolo Evangelico in Florence (instituted 1879), President of the Italian Bible Society, and an active writer with journals such as La Fiaccola (commenced by Vernon in 1878, by edited by Gay from 1882), Rivista Cristiana (edited by Emilio Comba), the Florentine daily Fieramosca, and the interdenominational Italia Evangelica (1881, and directed by Gay, Augusto Meille, Alberto Revel, Emilio Comba, and R. Foster). For his many publications, he would later be granted an honorary DD by the Wesleyan University of Delaware (Ohio).

In 1884 Gay took part in the Assemblea Promotrice di Unione o Cooperazione between the various evangelical churches in Italy. In July 1886 he moved to Rome, but at the annnual conference in 1889 he resigned. Gay wrote to the Comitato di Evangelizzazione Valdese on 8 May announcing his resignation from the Methodist Church due to the direction of their mission in Italy, and asking to be permitted to work for the Waldensian Church. He was accordingly appointed to work with the titular pastor of Rome, Giovanni Daniele Buffa.

In June, he was elected secretary of the District Conference. In July he spent several weeks in Paris where, invited by the English Committee of the World Evangelical Alliance, he had the opportunity of preaching on the occasion of the centenary of the Revolution. In August, he participated in the Valle Valdesi at the celebrations of the two hundredth anniversary of the Waldensian Rimpatrio, and on the 8th of the same month he was ordained into the company of Waldensian pastors.

He continued his cultural and journalistic work: in October 1890 he undertook his first overseas mission, to raise money in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. While he was away, Isabella died on 8 February 1891, and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. In November that year Gay undertook an even more extensive trip, including Chicago but also large parts of central and western United States (Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Minnesota, Chicago and North Carolina, where Morangton wanted to attract more Waldensian emigrants), assisting in the establishment of nascent Waldensian works (including First Italian Presbyterian Church, established by Michele Nardi and Filippo Grilli, in Chicago). Gay's 'inspection' led in 1893 to the foundation of the colony of Valdese, in which Carlo Alberto Tron was an active participant. In August 1893 he married his assistant, Lea Humbert (La Chaux de Fonds 23 Jul 1856 - Luserna San Giovanni 25 Nov 1911), and the two of them moved to Gay's new charge of Brescia (Oct 1892-Sept 1895). Gay revivified the small local church, finding it a new meeting place, founding the "Arnaldo da Brescia" Circle, promoting a library, holding conferences, language courses, and a variety of other activities. In 1895, after the death of his wife and his mother, he transferred as pastor to the Waldensian church in Naples. Here he ran a school and a weekly journal entitled «Il Libero Credente». On the 50th anniversary of the emancipation of the Waldensians (1898), he was made responsible for carrying out a Synodal visit to all the churches in the south, in particular to those in Abbruzzi and San Marino. In the second part of the year, he was delegated to represent the Waldesian Church at the inauguration of the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, organized by the Evangelischer Ober-Kirchenrath of Berlin. The ceremony took place on 31 October in the presence of the Kaiser and his consort. This journey provided him with a second opportunity to describe the Holy Land in a booklet, entitled A Gerusalemme per l'inaugurazione della Chiesa del Redentore. Secondo viaggio in Terra Santa. In the Spring of 1899, he spent a lot of time promoting the Waldensian church in Calabria, organizing a group in Falerna (Catanzaro), and as head of the Rome-Naples District, a position he held until 1901. He also completed his final trip to the USA.

After extensive work in the South, in 1900 he became pastor of Luserna San Giovanni, prov. Torino. In 1906, during the celebrations for the Centenary of the construction of the Waldensian Temple, the "Maison Vaudois" was constructed in order to serve youth activities, and largely funded by Stefano Albarin. To mark the occasion, Gay published an accurate account of the story of the parish from 1555 to 1905, produced an edited version of the Historia by Scipione Lentolo, and published the Esquisse d'histoire Vaudoise. At the same time, he was also collaborating on periodicals such as «La Luce» and «L'Écho des Vallées Vaudoises». From 1906-1912, he was variously president and secretary of the Société d'Histoire Vaudoise. He died in Naples on 27 November 1912, while visiting his son, Gaio, who was a pastor there.

At the time of his death, his manuscript of the Histoire des Vaudois was in press, and appeared after his death. Another son, Teofilo Howard Gay (1876 – 1943; often referred to as Howard Teofilo), pursued a long and productive career centred on his pastorate of the Comunità Evangelica Riformata in Bergamo, which in 1934 he brought formally into the Waldensian church.

Principal Publications:

• La Terra del Cristo (viaggio in oriente), Napoli: Tip. Ferrante, 1878 (nuova ed. 1881).

• Il rimpatrio dei valdesi: episodio di storia patria narrato agl'italiani, Roma: Loescher, 1879.

• Gli italiani del Vangelo. Originali antichi e copie moderne. Bozzetti storico-critici, Roma, Firenze, Claudiana, 1880.

• Arsenale antipapale, ossia Dizionario delle eresie, imposture e idolatrie della Chiesa romana, Firenze, Claudiana, 1882. [trad. franc. a cura di Léa Gay Humbert, Marsiglia, Les Editions de la Tarante, 2014]

• Il Credo. Esposizione e dimostrazione del cristianesimo primitivo. Riassunto del simbolo apostolico, Firenze: Claudiana, 1883.

• Vita di Gesù Cristo. Bozzetti storico-omiletici, Firenze: Tip. Cooperativa, 1884.

• Lo spiritismo: sunto di tre conferenze date in Firenze da Teofilo Gay, 2° edizione contenente la replica degli spiritisti, Firenze: Cooperativa, 1884.

• Vita e scritti di Saulo di Tarso detto S. Paolo. Bozzetti storico-omiletici, Firenze: Tip. Cooperativa, 1885.

• Il Decalogo, ossia la legge di Dio per la vita dell'uomo. Studi etico-sociali, Firenze & Roma: Claudiana, 1885.

• Il Padre Nostro, Firenze: Tip. Cooperativa, 1885.

• I metodisti episcopali, Studio presentato alla Società teologica fiorentina nella seduta del gen. 1882, Roma: Artero, 1885.

• Le contraddizioni della Bibbia esposte da un libero pensatore e spiegate da un cristiano. Saggio di apologetica biblica, Roma: Firenze, Claudiana, 1887.

• A Gerusalemme per l'inaugurazione della Chiesa del Redentore. Secondo viaggio in Terra Santa, Roma: Tip. Gould, 1899.

• Temples et pasteurs de l'Eglise vaudoise de Saint Jean de 1555 à 1905, Torino: Unione tipografico-editrice, 1905.

• Esquisse d'histoire vaudoise, Torre Pellice: Imprimerie Alpine, 1907.

• Eroine valdesi. Bozzetti-monologhi, Pinerolo: Tip. Sociale, 1908.

• Jean Calvin, réformateur de Genève et bienfaiteur des vaudois. Quatrecentième anniversaire de sa naissance, Torre Pellice, Società di Studi Valdesi, Opuscolo del XVII febbraio, 1909.

• Rora dans l'histoire vaudoise, Torre Pellice, Società di Studi Valdesi, Opuscolo del XVII febbraio, 1911.

• Histoire des vaudoises refaite d'après les plus recentes recherches, Firenze, Claudiana, 1912.

Bibliography

Ballesio, Gabriella, 'Teofilo Gay', Dizionario Biografico dei Protestanti in Italia, Societa' di Studi Valdesi, http://www.studivaldesi.org/dizionario/evan_det.php?secolo=XIX&evan_id=50 (accessed 11 July 2020).

Comba, A., "Teofilo Gay, pastore e intellettuale", in Bollettino della Società di Studi Valdesi 172 (June 1993), pp. 42-57.

Tron, C. A., "Dr. Théophile Gay", in Écho des Vallées 48 (29 Nov 1912).