or Giulio Pomponio Leto
born 1428, Diano, Kingdom of Naples
died 1497, Rome
Italian humanist.
As a youth he decided to dedicate his life to the study of the ancient world. In Rome he gathered other humanists around him in a semisecret society, the Academia Romana. Their celebration of ancient Roman rites aroused the suspicions of Pope Paul II, who briefly dissolved the Academia and imprisoned Laetus and his associates. Laetus's lack of rigour and critical spirit have led modern scholars to treat his writings with caution.